School to name road after late discipline secretary

Staff Reports

Gallup McKinley County Schools Superintendent Mike Hyatt released a letter this afternoon stating that the road leading into the district's Central Office and Miyamura High will be designated as "Miss Lisa Lane."

Lisa Romero-Muniz, the high school's discipline secretary, was one of 58 victims killed at the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas, NV Oct. 1, 2017.

"Lisa Romero-Muniz was an amazing person who positively impacted the life of each person who was lucky enough to know her," Hyatt said."We know this road designation will be a reminder to all of us, of those individuals who have and do selflessly serve our most valuable resource as a community – our students."

The country-music loving Romero-Muniz, 48, was in Vegas with her husband to see her favorite country stars perform at the outdoor festival near Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino when Stephen Paddock opened fire from the 32nd floor of the hotel as Jason Aldean performed his set.

The gunman claimed a total of 58 lives and took his own life before police could enter his room. The Route 91 tragedy remains the worst mass shooting in modern American history.

"[The district] also hope[s] the road designation reminds of the need to end violence in our own community and in communities across our country," Hyatt said.

In addition to her husband, Romero-Muniz, is survived by her three children.

School lacks important amenities; seeks to appeal case

The new Hózhó Academy Charter School moves into its second month of operation this school year, despite lacking adequate transportation for its students to and from the school.

The academy reached out to Gallup-McKinley County Schools for support on the matter, but their request was denied. The move set the stage for a lawsuit between the two entities.

On Aug. 15, Hózhó Academy filed a complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief, which was received by the Gallup-McKinley County School District on Aug. 17.

Case hearings were scheduled for Aug. 17 and 24, and GMCS filed their motion to dismiss the case on Aug. 23.

Judge Louis E. DePauli, Jr. ruled in favor of GMCS at a hearing held at the Gallup District Court on Aug. 24.

Hózhó Academy failed to meet the requirements on injunction relief set by the state, and GMCS argued a preliminary injunction would disrupt the school’s status quo, another strike against the state legal standard, according to the defendant response by GMCS.

Mike Hyatt, superintendent for the Gallup-McKinley County Schools, provided additional information in a Sept. 25 phone call.

“[The] law does not support [or state] districts have to provide transportation to state charters,” he said.

The written defendant response, available online for public viewing, said a preliminary injunction that does not have an effect on the status quo was “absolutely disingenuous and misleading.”

The preliminary injunctions should preserve the status quo and not determine the case, it reads.

“The School District has never provided transportation school bus services to Plaintiff and a preliminary injunction would grant Plaintiff all the relief sought at trial contrary to law,” their response continues.

The document goes on to say students given transportation by the school district were given it because they are students of the district.

Hózhó Academy does not fall into this category because they are a stand-alone and separate public school system. As such,  Hózhó is responsible for its own operations and student services in conjunction with the Public Education Commission pursuant to Section 22-8B-9(A) of the Charter School Act.

Jeff Bond, transportation director for Gallup-McKinley County Schools, stated in a written affidavit on the case that the district has not serviced any Hózhó Academy students because it is a new charter school.

“GMCS cannot provide transportation for Hózhó Academy this school year, and I anticipate it will be unable to do so in the future,” Bond wrote. “We do not have the capacity in busses or bus drivers due to our drastic expansion of transportation routes to serve GMCS’s McKinley Academy.”

Bond also stated the district has increased school autonomy with start and end times this school year, which makes it impossible to service any new schools.

Despite the ruling, Patrick Mason, a founder of the Hózhó governing board and the academy’s attorney in the case, provided a Sept. 25 written response to the Sun stating the school intends to appeal the issue once the final order has been issued.

“We feel that the law is clear as to the requirement for the school district to negotiate a transportation contract with charter schools,” Mason said. “Our position is that all the schools in Gallup need to work together in order to improve the education options in our area, and we hope to have partnerships with all the schools in the area to work towards our common goal of higher quality education.”

Hyatt, however, said another strike against Hózhó Academy was Mason’s appointment as their attorney. In the written response, he said Hózhó Academy never made any record of retaining one of its own board members to be the school’s legal counsel.

As such, Hyatt said it was a conflict of interest for Mason to make himself the attorney in the case without going through the proper procedure.

Mason would not have been able to contract with the governing body under the New Mexico Governmental Conduct Act, Hyatt said.

A section in the act prohibits a state entity, in this case Hózhó Academy, from contracting with a public officer or employee of the state unless the officer or employee has disclosed his substantial interest and unless the contract is awarded pursuant to the Procurement Code.

The New Mexico Governmental Conduct Act keeps a public officer from using the powers and resources of his or her position to obtain personal benefits or pursue private interests incompatible with public interest.

When asked about this decision, Mason said Hózhó Academy followed internal policies and procedures as well as all applicable laws and rules in selecting an attorney.

“I resigned from the Hózhó Academy Board prior to my selection and action on behalf of the Hózhó Academy board,” he said, adding that he is doing all his work for the school pro bono. “Everything was done in full compliance with the law and without any conflicts.”

When asked about further actions against them, Hyatt said there are a number of charter schools that seem to take resources from GMCS. He said Hózhó Academy started classes behind schedule and without sufficient resources for their students.

Hyatt said this was unusual since charter schools receive about $5,000 more per student in state funding, and that this whole case feels to him like just a waste of taxpayer dollars.

“It’s sad that state money is being used for charters that don’t have their act together,” he said.

By Cody Begaye
Sun Correspondent

ALBUQUERQUE  – Attorney General Hector Balderas announced Sept. 25 a sentence in excess of life imprisonment for Ameer Muhammad, the man convicted of the Albuquerque murder of Aaron Sieben in 2017.

Muhammad was found guilty of first degree felony murder, armed robbery, and shoplifting in July after Balderas took the case to trial.

“We have worked tirelessly to provide justice for Mr. Sieben’s family," Attorney General Hector Balderas said. "Today, they can finally know that the man who has caused them so much pain has been punished to the fullest extent provided by law.”

In March, 2017, Muhammad attacked Sieben near an Albuquerque gas station, fatally stabbing him, before running away and hiding from police.

On Sept. 25, Judge Jacqueline Flores sentenced Ameer Muhammad to life imprisonment plus 6 months in the New Mexico Department of Corrections.

Red Rocks Care Center HAS history of violations

Nothing could have prepared a Gallup family for what they allegedly found a day after they left a 93-year-old loved one at the Red Rocks Care Center in Gallup.

Dorothy Kein-Monahan was admitted to Red Rocks, 3720 Church Rock Rd., on Sept. 12 after an August surgery at the Gallup Indian Medical Center to remove her gallbladder.

Serena Penaloza, Kein-Monahan’s granddaughter, said the family hoped the staff would help aid their grandmother in her recovery. But when they returned to the facility the following day, they allegedly found Kein-Monahan wearing clothes that neither fit nor belonged to her, and she was not fully dressed and properly cleaned.

And that was just the beginning of the concerns the family had about the facility. Data from U.S. News & World Report ranks the facility below average, and New Mexico ranks 49th – the bottom of the barrel – when it comes to nursing home deficiencies.

Amanda Penaloza, a teacher at Twin Lakes Elementary School who has cared for 93-year-old grandmother for the past year and a half, said she and family members were shocked to find their grandmother, just one day after dropping her off at Red Rocks, in pain and not dressed properly.

“It was really heartbreaking,” Amanda Penaloza said. “I’d never seen my grandmother look so uncomfortable.”

Amanda Penaloza said the family had Kein-Monahan transferred to Gallup Indian Medical Center on Sept. 13 after they reportedly found her in poor shape at Red Rocks. She stayed the night at GIMC, and was brought to her home in Gallup the following day.

During an interview at her home, Kein-Monahan told the Sun the facility “didn’t do nothing for me; I was just there. My doctor said they will help you, but they didn’t do it. Nothing.”

Serena Penaloza said she reached out to Red Rocks, a 102-bed for-profit facility, for answers. She said she called the care center and asked to speak to the person with the highest authority. She claims the man she spoke with, Jay, was dismissive of her grandmother’s story.

She said the man laughed at her and called her belligerent.

“He wouldn’t even listen to what my full experience of what our story was,” she  said. “You do not treat other human beings that way when they’re coming to you with a grievance.”

On Sept. 14, Serena Penaloza posted two videos on her Facebook page. In both of them, she addresses her friends, detailing her grandmother’s Red Rocks experience. As of Sept. 19, the videos had been viewed over 135,000 times and garnered more than 400 comments and 6,500 shares.

Among the hundreds of comments, several individuals claimed to have had elderly family members treated similarly at Red Rocks. Others claimed to have worked at the center.

A woman who said she was a former Red Rocks employee, a certified nursing assistant who worked there in other capacities, from 2001-11, told the Sun the primary reason for the neglect and abuse at the facility is a lack of nursing assistants on the floor.

“Lack of CNAs is the reason patients aren’t being cared for,” the source, who wished to remain unnamed, told the Sun in a Sept. 18 Facebook chat. “CNAs do [their] best for the residents. I know that for a fact [be]cause I have friends that still work there as CNAs; they hurt themselves, physically, emotionally and mentally for [their] patients but the company itself can’t get more help for them, it’s been like that since I worked there.”

New Mexico Department of Health, Division of Health Improvement, confirmed there were two recently completed health surveys for Red Rocks – one from Jan. 10 and the other from June 21 of this year.

“However, the survey has not been added to the website yet because the Survey department has not received a Plan of Correction from the facility yet,” DOH spokesman David Morgan stated in an email, adding later that as of Sept. 19, there were “no assignments pending for an onsite investigation by the survey team. All we have pending for them are self reports that the facility has reported reportable incidents and are submitting their own internal follow up investigation.”

According to data compiled from U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, nursing homes in New Mexico are among the grimmest in the nation. Of 74 New Mexico nursing facilities, 38 had serious deficiencies, adding up to over $2.5 million in penalties.

U.S. News & World Report states on its website, as of 2016, Red Rocks rated below average in health inspections, nurse staffing and medical quality of care. Data from August 2016 alone shows that the facility had 12 health violations that year, significantly higher than the 7.3 U.S. average.

From 2014-16, Red Rocks paid three fines totaling $25,968 and was denied Medicare or Medicaid payments Oct. 5, 2016 and Oct. 3, 2015.

As of press time, Red Rocks Care Center did not return several calls requesting a response on the matter.

Meanwhile, Serena Penaloza began reaching out to both local and statewide news outlets in mid-September. Her hope is to spread awareness of the treatment her grandmother received and in turn spur families to keep a closer watch on relatives in facilities like Red Rocks.

“She’s safe, but she’s not going to forget what happened to her,” Serena Penaloza said. “My worries are for people who are there, and everywhere else [like it] on the reservation.”

By Cody Begaye & Mia Poris
Sun Correspondent & Editor