Charter School. . .

Chavez said Los Cariños did contact him late last year to ask whether he could evaluate the staff, but that they never reached an agreement. Chavez told the school he would consider it, but did not hear from the school again until April 30 of this year, the same day a SUN reporter called Victoria Garcia to ask about the issue.
State Deputy Secretary of Education Don Duran, who oversees charter schools for the state, said it is the school district's responsibility to ensure Los Cariños is following state rules.
Charter schools in New Mexico are either state-chartered or district-chartered. District-chartered schools operate under the oversight of a local school district, while state-chartered schools answer to the state Education Department. The Española School District is the chartering agent for Los Cariños.
District Superintendent David Cockerham initially said he did not know Los Cariños needed to hire the consultant.
"If the state waives the (administrative licensure requirement), she can do the evaluations," Cockerham said.
Cockerham later added he never learned of the issue because the Department never gave him written notice of the problem and because Los Cariños is responsible for reporting such issues to the District. The District does not keep files on the licensure status of charter school employees because they are not directly employed by the District, he said.
"In any case, we are not required to oversee their personnel. It's their Board's responsibility to oversee their personnel," Cockerham said.
Duran said he has given Los Cariños until May 9 to find a consultant.
"It's not like we want to bring a hammer down on them," Duran said. "It's more like, 'How are you resolving this issue?'"
The school must have hired a consultant by then, or at least be able show it is taking steps to find one, Duran said. Otherwise, the District would have grounds to revoke Los Cariños' charter or send in District administrators to conduct teacher evaluations.
Cockerham said he would not revoke the school's charter and that the District will help Los Cariños remedy the problem, most likely by helping them find a consultant.
Duran said he only learned of the issue when a SUN reporter requested Garcia's licensure information from the Department.
"As soon as I found out, I got in touch with the superintendent and I sent a liaison to the school, who allowed (Garcia) to suggest what action she would take to remedy the situation," Duran said. "The liaison made sure she understands the law and that she needs to take action. Immediately."
Garcia said she had forgotten to find a consultant, and was only reminded of it when the state liaison visited the school.
"I spaced out. I completely forgot," Garcia said. "Charter school principals have the same responsibilities as other schools, even if we don't have a huge budget and we have less students and staff. But what can I say? It was an oversight, and we fixed it."
Garcia said Chavez agreed Monday to evaluate Los Cariños' five teachers. Chavez has an administrative license.