4-23-2024 9:53am

Alamogordo School Board Member Craig Danekas Resigns from Charter School Board

Chris Edwards Editor

AlamogordoTownNews.com and KALHRadio.org has run an expose series on an effort by a small closed group of individuals proceeding in an attempt to bring a taxpayer funded charter school to a reality in Alamogordo.

As previously reported a pre-application has been filed with the New Mexico Public Education Department notifying the department of the groups attempt to make a taxpayer funded charter school in Alamogordo a reality.

A concern that has been raised is the lack of transparency and accountability and a potential conflict of interest between some individuals championing this endeavor with Alamogordo Public Schools and other potential entities.

A charter school is allowed to be created per New Mexico law. A flaw with the New Mexico charter schools laws is that there are transparency concerns especially related to financial matters and the use of taxpayer funds.

Keep in mind as the law is written the charter school pulls funding away from the publicly accountable public schools and the taxpayer funds follow the student into the charter program.

The proposed charter would be outside of APS oversight and public accountability and using millions of dollars of local taxpayer dollars

The law allows for a charter concept within APS district board oversight, Las Cruces has such programs but that is not the route this group has chosen to proceed.

Unlike a traditional school that requires transparency, public audits and reports the charter schools laws in New Mexico do not offer the same protections for taxpayers nor the save level of transparency.

An advisory was submitted to the New Mexico legislature in 2022 warning of a lack of transparency and flaws with the existing framework of state regulations related to Charter School financial oversight of taxpayer dollars.

The Office of the State Auditor (OSA), together with the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC), issued a joint risk advisory to alert the legislative bodies and policy advisors in the State of New Mexico of risks related to a significant lack of oversight and accountability failures concerning the technical relationships between charter schools and non-profit charter school foundations. The technical relationship between charter schools, governed throughout New Mexico under the “Charter Schools Act,” and its charitable foundations, considered blended
component units, is opaque and absent of oversight.

"Due to a significant accountability gap, there is a lack of transparency concerning the expenditure of public funds made by a charter school’s charitable foundation. There are no oversight mechanisms to account for public funds transferred as payments, disbursements, payables by the charter school to its charitable foundation allowing for the possibility of fraud and mismanagement of public funds."

And thus, the crux of concerns about seated school board members championing a charter school.

Elected school board members have a few primary responsibilities

One is to hire the one staff member that reports directly to them and that they may question: the school superintendent.

The second responsibility of the school board is fiscal accountability. The boards job is to ensure taxpayer dollars are being properly used with a clear public audit train and visibility.

The board has a fiduciary responsibility to ensure taxpayer dollars are delivering the best education possible for students within the system they are sworn to manage and to protect.

Keeping the fiduciary responsibility of school board members in mind then having school board members embrace, champion and advocate for a new charter school outside of the APS prevue is a “conflict of interest.”

Why? Because a charter school operates outside of APS School Board control and jurisdiction but uses APS funds to administer its programs.

How in clear conscience can a seated school board member support a charter school, pulling funds and students from a system they are elected to grow, manage and champion excellence in programs for?

That very question we raised in prior reporting.

Alamogordo Public School Board Member Craig Danekas was on the founding committee of the Sacramento School of Engineering and Science.

While having been sworn in to the APS Board of Education in January, concurrently he was a party to the filing of a pre-application to create a charter school outside of the APS oversight.

Thus Danekas is championing a new school which would transfer up to 156 students and APS funding to an “outside entity and institution” without clear transparency, based on state auditor concerns.

https://webnew.ped.state.nm.us/bureaus/public-education-commission/subm…

The notice of intent was filed with the school board member Craig Danekas listed as a founding member after he was sworn in to lead and protect the APS school system.

There was no public disclosure by the founding charter committee nor school board member Craig Danekas that a charter pre application or intent filing has occurred.

When AMT discovered the pre application, we submitted a letter to the APS School Board President Angela Cadwallader asking for a clarification of board policy concerning “conflicts of interests” and rather per legal standards if this was a problem per APS or state PED policies.

We also asked Angela Cadwallader for any documents and votes that showed that APS Board members support the alternative charter school?

The application states: “A majority of the elected APS school board members have expressed support for a Charter School.”

Ms. Cadwallader never responded to our request for clarification. We then submitted an IPRA requesting notes, documents, votes or other information showing proof that the APS School board supports an outside of their system charter school. Do date not a single document confirming that support has been submitted to us per our legal request.

In a more recent exchange with Ms. Cadwallader concerning fiduciary accountability by the school board, she did respond with the following statement;

“Based on my experience with each of the Board members that make up the APS Board of Education, I believe each board member understands and takes seriously their fiduciary responsibility to ensure taxpayer funds related to schools are spent in a manner that is transparent and effective to the students under their care.”

Either the applicant misrepresented the facts or lied to the New Mexico Public Education Department in their application, OR there is a coverup and documents, notes and disclosures have not been released by Ms. Cadwallader and the APS Board of Education as requested via the legal IPRA process

In either scenario there is untruth.

We polled the former school board members with the same question and did an IPRA review during its tenure.

No documents have been discovered and none have said that they support, the outside of the APS system, charter school. Each responded to us, no excepting for Ms Cadwallader, which did not respond to that inquiry.

Following our inquiries, that we received no comment on, an action was taken however by Craig Danekas

The action was his resignation from the Charter School founding committee due to a “perception of a conflict of interest.”

On February 19th after our reporting on 1-25-24 of the filing of a pre-application of which Craig Danekas is named he submitted a letter to the APS school board explaining he was resigning from the Charter School founding board.

All the while Mr. Danekas submitted a letter to the APS board claiming he was ending the relationship with the Charter Board, he submitted a letter to Cindy Stong, who is facilitating the charter application.

In that email stream he submitted his resignation on 2-19-23. However he continued his endorsement of the project stating that he will still be attending “education committee meetings. I just need to get my name off of the founders list...I also want you to know that Casa will still give some seed money to SSES.”

The email stream continues on 4-22-24 with a statement from APS Board Member Danekas that says, “I’m not worried about removing my name of the NOI ( notice of intent), that’s water under the bridge.” Danekas continued, “I think it important that I sent you and Jim to email asking to me removed from the founders list, so that it doesn’t appear on the Charter School Application.”

If there is no conflict of interest, why the concern on having the APS Board members name on the application?

Because there is a clear conflict of interest.

But yet, the “conflict of interest” is sealed

APS Board Secretary Craig Danekas, has committed to a monetary contribution to the founding of the Charter School. Confirmed as Mrs. Stong responds to the APS Board member monetary offer with a statement that says, “Ah, I get it. I wonder if I can take your name off of the NOl? Thank you for the money offer I appreciate you and Sue.”

Commentary:

APS School Board member Craig Danekas did the right thing by resigning from the Charter School Board.

Apparently however, he did not resign with the intent of doing the right thing.

He resigned due to transparency and questions being asked of a conflict of interest. He resigned and wanted to ensure there was a paper trail of his resignation to clear any “perceptions of a conflict of interest.”

Yet his resignation is disingenuous.

Danekas is continuing to support the charter school effort and committed a financial commitment to the charter school, all the while seated as a publicly elected APS School Board member tasked with growth, accountability and expansion of excellence within the APS system.

Mr. Danekas has violated his commitment to the community of voters that supported him; to enhance the programing and educational opportunities within the APS system at Alamogordo High School and beyond.

Is Mr. Daneka alone in conflicts of interest and closed door support of the charter school initiative

The Notice of Intent filed by Ms. Stong claims APS Board support.

Have closed door, dark support, outside of the public record, been committed by other board members?

Public records releases show that APS School Member Brandy Murphy has been invited to attend meetings of Main Gate United’s education committee, when the Charter School was on the agenda, and site location discussions were conducted for the charter school…

Inside sources of Main Gate United have said, that there have been no objections by APS School Board members to the Charter School proposal and initiative expressed in those meeting and that APS public school board members have been engaged in the dialog: outside of public view.

The voters of Alamogordo deserve transparency, accountability and an APS board that champions the best programs for its students within the APS framework. That is what each are elected for.

The new APS board was elected with a promise to make the APS system a better system for student outcomes and excellence, yet members of this same board recently elected are working against the system.

These new members are championing a new charter school that will use taxpayer money pulling it away from Alamogordo High School and their oversight.

The proposed program of Sacramento School of Engineering and Science is one of excellence and needed. The question remains is why are don’t these school board members champion this program to be a part of the curriculum for which they have oversight within Alamogordo High School?

Does the seated school board to include Mr. Danekas and others have, so little faith in the talent of the educators, and the educational system of which they are tasked to manage, that they do not believe a program and curriculum, as proposed by the Sacramento School of Engineering and Science. could be facilitated with positive outcomes within Alamogordo High School or within the APS system?

What kind of message do these board members and charter school founders send to the hard working educators within APS system that work daily to ensure positive outcomes to students in their care?

The message the founders send is clear; they do not trust the APS system to provide the best education to the children of Alamogordo.

What happens to the majority of students who are left to remain in an underfunded STEM programs at AHS of which the APS board is accountable?

Concerned citizens are encouraged to contact the APS School Board and to email the MainGate United Education Committee members and voice your concerns with the Charter School initiative and lack of transparency to hello@alamogordo.com

For transparency related stories by AlamogordoTownNews.com with documentation concerning the Charter School initiative are found below…

Creating a Charter School Where is the transparency?
https://2ndlifemediaalamogordo.town.news/g/alamogordo-nm/n/242275/chart…

The Lessons of Riverhead Central School District. Would an Alamogordo Charter School Result in AHS Layoffs?
https://2ndlifemediaalamogordo.town.news/g/alamogordo-nm/n/248738/lesso…

Understanding the Steps to Open a Charter School

https://2ndlifemediaalamogordo.town.news/g/alamogordo-nm/post/242613/un…

Notice of Intend to Open a Charter School Filed.
https://2ndlifemediaalamogordo.town.news/g/alamogordo-nm/n/235685/notic…