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Why the BOE placed Chiapetti on administrative leave

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The Board of Education placed Superintendent Frank Chiapetti on administrative leave with pay for the remainder of his employment with the Board of Education.  The Board of Education will honor his current employment contract, but the Board has determined that it can no longer work as a team with its employee to govern and operate the School District.

After more than a year of attempting to work out our differences and attempting to supervise and communicate with Mr. Chiapetti, the Board of Education has come to the point in its evaluation of that employer-employee relationship that it no longer has trust nor confidence in him to work with the Board of Education in the manner necessary for him to be the administrative and educational leader of the School District.

It has become apparent that Mr. Chiapetti and the Board of Education do not share a common view nor are in agreement on how to best to achieve the primary goal of increasing the quality of the education provided to all students of the School District.  It has resulted with repeated conflict and disagreements.  The relationship has become toxic and a distraction toward moving forward in this school year and in the school years to follow.

The Board of Education is the governing body of the School District and responsible to the community that elected us, and Mr. Chiapetti is our employee charged with administrating our goals and policies in achieving a common goal.  That relationship has broken down and requires the Board of Education to act in the best interests of the School District that it governs.

While the Board of Education appreciates the accomplishments to date, the future is affected by the decisions of today.  As such, the Board of Education is committed to build upon what has already been done with new leadership, a new outlook and a new temperament to build consensus among all those educating our kids and reach out to all stakeholders to be part of a team for the benefit of the students.

The Board of Education will immediately search for an Interim Superintendent and will also begin work on the process to be used to search for and hire a new Superintendent for the 2017-2018 school year.

The Board of Education is committed to public education and is willing to make the difficult decisions in governing the School District with the best interest of each student’s education in mind.  It follows in doing so that the Board of Education needs an employee who is not only an expert in public education, but willing to work with the community’s representatives who are sitting on the Board of Education to achieve the same goal.

Letter submitted to the Gallup Sun by Board of Education President Priscilla Manuelito.