ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., July 14 (Our New Mexico Times) — A New Mexico Department of Justice report says Gallup-McKinley County Schools has used out-of-school suspensions in ways that fall hardest on Native American and Hispanic students, keeping many of them out of class far more often than White students.
The report frames the problem as both a discipline issue and an education access issue. When students are suspended out of school, they miss instructional time, can fall behind academically, and may lose access to services that are tied to being present in school.
What the state found
The Department of Justice said Native American students in the district lose roughly 8 to 10 times as many school days to out-of-school suspension as White students. Hispanic students lose 3 to 4 times as many days as White students.
For the 2024-25 school year, the report says the suspension rate was 1.6 suspensions per 100 White students, 5.9 per 100 Hispanic students and 14.2 per 100 Native American students.
The report also says the district is among the harshest disciplinarians in New Mexico and that its students lose at least twice as many instructional days to out-of-school suspension as the state average.
Why the report says the gap is a system problem
State investigators said the disparities are not explained by student behavior alone. The report says Gallup-McKinley County Schools imposes harsher consequences on Native American and Hispanic students than on White students for similar infractions.
The report says those differences have persisted since at least the 2015-16 school year and have widened over time.
Investigators also said district discipline rules give decisionmakers wide latitude to use exclusionary punishment, meaning suspensions that keep students away from school. Poor recordkeeping, the report says, makes it harder to see exactly how discipline decisions are affecting different groups of students.
KUNM, summarizing the report, said the state also found the district lacked enough clear guidance defining misconduct and which actions should lead to out-of-school suspension.
Who investigated the district
The New Mexico Department of Justice conducted the investigation after New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez ordered it in 2023, according to ProPublica.
The report says the investigation began in August 2023. It also says national media had already reported on harsh discipline practices in the district, especially toward Native American students, before the state review began.
Anjana Samant, identified by ProPublica as a deputy director in the state Department of Justice and one of the report’s authors, said audits are needed to keep disparities from becoming as extreme and systemic as those found in Gallup-McKinley.
What the district has said
Gallup-McKinley County Schools said it is reviewing the report, according to Buffalo’s Fire. The district pointed to efforts under Superintendent Jvanna Hanks, including an Equity Council with positions set aside for members of the Native American community.
The sources provided do not show whether the district has adopted any policy changes in response to the report.
Why this matters for families
Suspensions do more than remove a student from a classroom for a few days. They can interrupt reading and math instruction, make it harder to keep up with assignments, and affect access to school-based services.
The report says some students are spending so much time out of school that they are no longer eligible for educational services because they are not attending school.
For Native families in northwestern New Mexico, the findings are especially significant because Gallup-McKinley County Schools serves a large Native student population. The state report calls on district leaders to acknowledge the findings and work with the community to reduce exclusionary and discriminatory discipline.
It also calls on the New Mexico Public Education Department and state lawmakers to strengthen oversight of student discipline statewide.
