Details continue to surface regarding the Lincoln Elementary School teacher who was charged with three petty misdemeanors – all listed as battery in court documents – in Gallup Magistrate Court Dec. 7.
Gallup McKinley County Schools District Superintendent Mike Hyatt told the Sun that Patrice Carpenter had been put on administrative leave.
“We were appalled by what we discovered and saw in this investigation.The safety of our students is our number one priority,” Hyatt said. “This employee no longer works for GMCS … we worked with law enforcement from the beginning of their investigation.”
Hyatt said reports on the matter were submitted to the state.
In the meantime, La Nisha Coble, the parent of one of the victims, has retained attorney Billy Keeler of Keeler and Keeler in Gallup.
Coble told the Gallup Sun that she had been advised not to speak about the case, but she emphasized that the children in Carpenter’s class are special needs students and vulnerable compared to most other children.
Her daughter, who managed to let her know about the alleged abuses, is primarily non-verbal.
Keeler told the Sun that he is still in the middle of his own investigation of the case, and can’t comment at this time.
Tamara Madrid, the mother of the boy who was seen being pulled by his hood in the videos shown to Gallup Police Officer Nicole Diswood, has not hired an attorney.
She was, however, willing to talk.
Madrid explained how Coble’s mostly nonverbal daughter communicated about the incidents in question.
“Her daughter was pinching herself and pulling her [own] hair,” Madrid said. “Her parents asked her what was going on, where she got this from. That’s when she spoke the teacher’s name and then kinda shut down. She didn’t want to talk about it anymore.”
Madrid said Coble told her husband, Quentin Madrid, that the girl had indicated that the boy in the class had been treated badly. The Madrids’ son is the only male in the class. Tamara Madrid said her son won’t talk about the alleged abuse he endured at school.
Calls to Patrice Carpenter have gone unanswered, and she remains listed on the McKinley County Federation of United School Employees website as its president.
McFuse Vice President Brian Bernard said Jan. 20 that Carpenter remains president and that further action “is premature.”
“The AFT-McFuse union should be setting an example, but to see a teachers union, who should be here for kids, try to deflect responsibility and to also provide financial support for this situation is shocking,” Hyatt said in an email.
By Beth Blakeman
Associate Editor
