Former Los Lunas superintendent hired to investigate new superintendent

LOS LUNAS — Through multiple public records requests, the Valencia County News-Bulletin has been able to verify the company investigating allegations of misconduct brought against the Los Lunas Schools superintendent.

Superintendent Ryan Kettler has been on paid administrative leave since July 16, while an investigation into allegations against him proceeds.

When contacted by the newspaper this week, Kettler said he has retained an attorney and would not comment at this time regarding the ongoing investigation.

IPRA requests

In late August, the VCNB filed an Inspection of Public Records Act request with Los Lunas Schools asking for the contract for services, scope of work services, invoices and payments to DDSK Group LLC, the company rumored to be conducting the investigation into the allegations made against Kettler. The district responded through it’s law firm Cuddy & McCarthy, indicating it had no records responsive to the request.

The News-Bulletin filed a second IPRA request on Sept. 10, requesting the same documents from LLS but without naming a specific company. The Cuddy law firm responded on Sept. 24, saying LLS did not have any records responsive to the request and indicated since the hiring was done by the law firm it was protected by attorney-client privilege and not subject to IPRA.

The News-Bulletin then filed another records request for the contract between LLS and Cuddy, as well as records of payments and invoices between the two.

August billing statements from Cuddy show a partial payment of $21,685 to DDSK for “investigation (of) employee misconduct.” In addition, documents show Cuddy has billed the district for nearly $15,000 in legal fees since the beginning of June.

Contracts with legal firms

The school district already has contracts with four other law firms for legal services.

When asked why an additional contract with Cuddy was needed, Los Lunas Board of Education President Michelle Osowski said professional services contracts are highly common, given the different levels of expertise among firms.

“They (Cuddy) have what I was looking for,” said Osowski.

She continued, saying while the firms currently on contract have their own specialties — collective bargaining, special education, bonds and policy analysis — Cuddy has “30-plus years in employment law.”

The contract with Cuddy cannot exceed $60,000 during the term of the contract, which is June 6, 2024, to June 6, 2025. It was signed by former acting superintendent Jessica Montano on July 23, the same day the board appointed Susan Chavez interim superintendent.

When Osowski was asked at the Aug. 20 board meeting who was conducting the investigation into Kettler, she told the News-Bulletin the name of the company would not be released at that time, only saying it was a firm selected by the district’s attorney.

DDSK

According to DDSK’s website, the company is “three retired superintendents nationally certified to conduct Title IX investigations and personnel/student misconduct independent investigations, student disciplinary hearings and other related services.”

One of the superintendents is Dana Sanders, a former Los Lunas Schools superintendent. The other members of the company are Daniel P. Benavidez and Sheryl McNellis-Martinez, who with Sanders make up the ‘DDS’ part of the company. The ‘K’ stands knowledge and experience, according to the site.

Four months after being placed on paid administrative leave in 2020 and more than a month after being discharged from her position by the Los Lunas Board of Education, Sanders announced her retirement.

On June 16, 2020, the former board voted to discharge Sanders, who had worked for the district for 32 years and was the first female superintendent, from her position, but she was still on the district’s payroll until they accepted her retirement.

In September 2021, Sanders settled a lawsuit with Los Lunas Schools for $600,000 in lost wages and other damages. She filed the lawsuit against the Los Lunas Board of Education, with former board members Bryan Smith, Eloy Giron and Steven Otero mentioned in the suit directly in their capacities as board president, board vice president and board secretary, respectively.

The initial complaint alleged Smith, Giron and Otero engaged in improper employment practices and retaliation against Sanders for her refusal to use her position to fulfill certain member’s “personal desires and/or vendettas” against district employees.

Benavidez, the former superintendent at Central Consolidated School District in the Four Corners area, McNellis-Martinez, the former superintendent of Wagon Mound Public Schools, and Sanders have all been embroiled in employment related litigation with their former school districts.

Sanders did not respond to News-Bulletin requests for comment before the deadline.

Ongoing investigation

During an interview on Monday, after the News-Bulletin received the billing statements with the payment to DDSK, Osowski said she was fully informed that Sanders was part of the firm and was aware of her history with the district.

“The board authorized Cuddy to make a choice of the most qualified firm,” the board president said. “There were three reasons they were chosen. All members are former superintendents, Yes, all three left their positions as superintendents — their boards asked them to leave and we know about the questionable circumstances of Ms. Sanders.

“Two, this firm is certified in Title IX investigations and has a solid background in terms of HR. Finally, they have three people and when we were looking at having an external investigator who might only have one person, we felt having more people was prudent.”

When asked if the investigation into the allegations against Kettler pertained to Title IX, Osowski said she couldn’t say. Title IX is a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance.

Billing statements from Cuddy shows one of the firms partners, Laura Castille, has provided all of the legal services to the district, the majority of which have been communications with the board president.

One meeting between Castille and Osowsky on July 12 for “various ongoing issues” lasted 7.3 hours at a cost of $1,569.50.

When asked if that was an overly long time to meet with an attorney, Osowski replied, “not when you’re looking at going into an investigation.”

The board president refused to specify if any of the issues discussed that day have been resolved and whether district constituents should be concerned.

On Aug. 20, Osowski had expressed hope the investigation would wrap up some time in September, but on Monday, she said she could not share a time line for when it would be finalized.

Other legal fees billed to the district include three trips by Castille from Las Cruces, where she lives and works from the southern branch of the firm. The attorney traveled to Los Lunas and billed for 25.5 hours for a total of $5,482.50.

Castille’s history also includes education and litigation. From 2018 to 2022, she was the Title IX coordinator for New Mexico State University. In early 2023, she filed a complaint against the university alleging officials had changed a job posting to fit the qualifications of a preferred candidate. As the person responsible for ensuring job postings complied with state law, Castille saw the change and reported it. She was put on leave and later resigned.

Castille’s lawsuit alleges she was retaliated against for speaking up about the change. The suit was settled in January for a one-time payment of $60,000 to Castille.

The professional services contract with Cuddy was brought to the board for consideration at its June 18 meeting, but was denied on a 3-2 vote.

At the July 23 board meeting, the contract with Cuddy was on the agenda as part of the consent items, which is a list of action items voted on as a group without discussion unless a board members requests an item be pulled off the list and put on the regular agenda.

Acting LLS Superintendent Jessica Montano asked the board to remove the contract from the agenda, saying “it was within the acting superintendent’s authority to approve contracts under $60,000,” according to the minutes. She went on to say, “... to avoid any further procurement code violations,” she had approved the contract.

The contract was signed by Montano on July 23. Castille signed the contract the next day.

At the Sept. 10 BOE meeting, after another extensive executive session, board member Justin Talley made a motion to give Osowski and board vice president Bruce Bennett the authority to meet with Kettler to discuss and address investigation findings. Osowski said they have been talking to Kettler, but could not give details about what.

At the Aug. 20 meeting, Osowski also told the News-Bulletin she couldn’t get into the details of the allegations against Kettler, but did say it was “nothing about the safety of children or staff. There is nothing felonious, no sexual misconduct or moral turpitude. Absolutely none of those things.”

In the interview with Osowski Monday, she said, “The board has every intention, pending our legal counsel’s approval of course, of disclosing as much as we’re legally allowed to. We have no intention of hiding or clouding or obscuring any of the findings. This is important. It impacts the public and we know that.”