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EDUCATION
Los Lunas Board of Education approves Los Lunas Schools Foundation amid concerns
Board also expands number of meetings per month
Published
LOS LUNAS — After a lengthy wait, the Los Lunas Schools Board of Education approved a memorandum of understanding to formally create Los Lunas Schools Foundation in a special meeting on Tuesday, March 10.
The approval came after lengthy, pointed debate over the foundation’s scope, legal compliance and its effect on existing fundraising efforts, first during a workshop preceding the board meeting.
The board approved the MOU by a 4-1 vote, with the document accepted on the condition its dispute resolution section be immediately amended.
Board member Michelle Osowski, who jousted pointedly with board President Frank Otero during both sessions, was the lone dissenting vote.
During the work session, Osowski raised several concerns from constituents, primarily focusing on potential conflict with state statute and competition with the long-established Los Lunas Partners in Education organization.
One key concern addressed the broad nature of the MOU, which suggests the foundation could accept personal properties such as “artwork, library books and real estate,” which Osowski argued conflicts with state law, stating a constituent had contacted her with the concern.
“One constituent was rather curious why the board is choosing to do a foundation, which would be directly in conflict with statute … because it’s under the board’s responsibilities, that one of the board’s responsibilities is to accept or reject any charitable gift, grant, devise or request,” she said.
Osowski also pointed to a section appearing to allow the school district’s chief financial officer to accept such properties.
“If you look at (a specific section), personal properties such as artwork, library books and real estate can be transferred to Los Lunas and then accepted by the CFO. Well, it’s the board who accepts this. We accept or reject by statute,” she explained.
During the workshop, concerns were also raised that the MOU, which designates the foundation as the “primary, non-Los Lunas Schools organization for developing and coordinating fundraising activities for most of the schools,” could diminish the role of Partners in Education (PIE).
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Defense of the MOU
Other board members defended the necessity of establishing the foundation as a means to secure additional funding, particularly in a climate of “reduced budgets”
Board Vice President Sonya C’Moya stressed the urgency of getting the process of getting the foundation started in her rebuttals.
“It is, I think, another avenue in which we can possibly gain and procure funds, which are being reduced everywhere in our budget,” she said, also clarifying that the MOU serves only as a starting point and merely grants “the authority to get started.”
After some back-and-forth with Ososwki about her receiving correspondence in the weeks before the meeting from the community at large — when other board members did not — Otero echoed this sentiment, assuring board member David Vickers that the MOU is “a living document.”
“It’s something that can be revised over and over and over again,” Otero said, “but we need to start somewhere”
Another key discussion point, this time during the meeting, centered on the logical flow of the dispute resolution section, which appeared to move from mediation directly to litigation.
Vickers raised the issue, stating, “Yeah, it seems like you put a cart before the horse if you start with litigation. I agree, if you start with mediation, arbitration and move 10.2 to 10.3. I think it reads better. It would make more sense.”
Before the final vote, Vickers amended his motion to specifically include the reordering of section 10.0, ensuring the process flows from mediation to arbitration, then to litigation with attorney’s fees as the final subsection. The motion to accept the MOA, as amended, passed by a vote of 4-1.
In a separate action during the meeting, the board unanimously approved changing the number of regularly scheduled board meetings from one per month to two per month.
The new schedule sets meetings for the second and fourth Tuesday of each month, with exceptions for December and May due to holidays and graduation activities. The new schedule is set to begin in April, though the board also scheduled special budget meetings during that time, which means the board will meet every Tuesday in April except April 7.
“What we’re doing is intended to improve our ability to further our policy. Right now, things aren’t moving. We’re having two meetings just to get more done,” Otero explained, emphasizing that the change is intended to “improve efficiency.”
The motion to approve the schedule change passed unanimously.
The board subsequently approved a resolution to change the district’s Open Meetings Act resolution to reflect the new meeting frequency.
