Miriam Jones of Taos addresses the Los Alamos School Board during the December 12 meeting. Also pictured is Board member Sondra Wyman. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com
Miriam Jones of Taos filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) on February 1, 2022 against Los Alamos Public Schools alleging that the District discriminated on the basis of race, alleging in particular that the District failed to appropriately investigate and address complaints about the alleged use of racial slurs by a Los Alamos student athlete at an October 7, 2021 soccer game.
On March 16, 2022, Jones was notified by the OCR that an investigation into the allegation was being opened and that OCR would ensure that its investigation is “legally sufficient and dispositive of the allegations”. A resolution agreement between OCR and LAPS laid out the changes the District needed to make without noting what resolution should take place between Jones and LAPS.
As of today, Miriam Jones and her family have not had closure on what they say happened at that Los Alamos soccer game to their 13-year old middle schooler.
In July 2022, the OCR said its investigation had included a review of documents pertinent to Jones’s complaint including the District’s non-discrimination and grievance policies, training materials on non-discrimination, the investigative file on the soccer game in question as well as select student and personnel files and other complaints of race discrimination filed with the District. The OCR also reviewed a video of the soccer games, interviewed 14 witnesses including Jones, her son and another student from the Taos team. They also interviewed (the mother of another Taos student) who first complained to LAPS about the alleged “monkey noises” made by a student athlete during the soccer game, as well as LAPS administration and coaches from both teams.
However, while the OCR was in the process of interviewing LAPS witnesses to the incident at the soccer game, LAPS requested to resolve the allegation in the case through a voluntary resolution agreement because OCR had identified several concerns regarding the District’s response to the allegations of racial discrimination by one of its soccer players against players on the Taos soccer team. As a result of the decision to accept a voluntary resolution, the OCR dropped its investigation of Miriam Jones’s complaint.
The Los Alamos community remained unaware of the OCR complaint, the OCR findings and the resolution agreement until the Los Alamos Reporter and others began to ask questions about LAPS non-discrimination and procedures in connection with changes that were made in February 2023. The Reporter asked why the changes had not been on an agenda for LAPS Board approval and received responses that LAPS “regulations” did not have to be approved by the Board. There has been no open meeting discussion by the Board and no notices have been posted for closed sessions. It is also not known who made the decision to enter into the resolution agreement and whether or not it was approved and signed by the Board.
Although an October 9 news release from Supt. Jennifer Guy claimed there were “no findings” by the OCR, the Resolution Agreement itself, signed by Supt. Guy on July 20, 2022, states that the OCR had “compliance concerns” pertaining to the following:
“1. The adequacy of the District’s investigation to determine if an LAPS student harassed opposing players during an athletic event with another district; 2. The District’s notice to complainants about the results of its investigation; 3. The lack of clarity in the District’s policies and procedures; and 4. The athletic coach’s lack of training in the District’s non-discrimination policies and procedures and how to address alleged racial discrimination in the District’s athletic programs.”
Also in an October press release, Board president Antonio Jaurigue noted that the School Board was made aware of “this issue” when the complaint was first filed, and updated when they entered into the joint resolution.
“There was discussion surrounding the next steps, as well as the impact on the students. Should this complaint have evolved into an OCR finding or legal action, our premature public disclosure may have caused undue stress or harm to the accused, or compromised an investigation with rumors,” Jaurigue said. “We, as the governing body, recognized that the next steps were to cooperate with the OCR and allow our administration to do their job. Our trust was placed in the professionals in our district, and they acted accordingly to resolve the complaint to the OCRs expectations”
Jaurigue did not indicate what format those discussions took or address concern for the impact on the 13-year old soccer player to whom the alleged “monkey noises” were directed.
Fast forward to Tuesday (December 12) and the LAPS Board meeting where Miriam Jones asked to speak in person under the public comment area of the agenda. Public comments at School Board meetings are limited to two minutes even if there are only two people signed up to make public comments. Although Jaurigue had been made aware that Jones would be traveling from Taos to make public comment in person and returning home thereafter she was not allowed to finish reading the last two paragraphs of her comments. Jones’s comments were as follows:
“During the varsity soccer game at Los Alamos on October 7, 2021, a soccer player on the Los Alamos team made monkey noises multiple times during the duration of the game. At the time, my son was the only African American kid on the Taos High School team. He was also only in 8th grade as he played up. He was 13 years old when this happened. It’s a very impressionable age.
“On October 12, 2021, Stephanie Daffron sent an email to the Athletic Director, Ann Stewart regarding the monkey noises by a student she designated by a specific jersey number. As a note, other players as well as a coach specifically pointed out this player stating they heard monkey noises coming from him, in my OCR report. As another note, to date, the email sent by Stephanie Daffron was never responded to or followed up on by the LAPS school district. (This is all documented)
“On October 16, I sent an email after speaking to my son then Stephanie about the monkey noises. Stephanie informed me she was never responded to.
“Months of me emailing correspondence and continually following up with Ann Stewart & Jennifer Guy, I finally received an “investigation report” that was just my allegations written on letterhead and signed by Jennifer Guy. A note, I found untrue information on this “report”, like that there was an “unspecified Los Alamos player” – when Stephanie Daffron, coach, players and myself all designated this player. My response to her “investigation report” via email is as follows:
“’First of all, no, I do not accept this… all you did was put dates and allegations in writing. There is no NMAA statement that racial behavior was addressed….’”
At this point, when Jones reached the two-minute point, although she had only two paragraphs left to read, Jones was cut off by Jaurigue. Her written comments to the Board continued as follows:
“’The racial issue obviously was not addressed. I will take this higher as this is not okay. When we spoke last, I said I wanted written confirmation that the racial issue was handled when it was first reported by Stephanie Daffron to Ann (Stewart), the Athletic Director. You stated the racial investigation started on October 12 when Stephanie (Daffron) reported it! You just sent me a bunch of fluff further confirming my suspicion that this was originally ignored, so thank you for that.’
On February 1, 2022, OCR received my complaint regarding this racial injustice and then opened an investigation. Public documents further prove that an initial investigation was not conducted or if it was, it was done incorrectly and without documentation. Prior to the conclusion of the OCR investigation, LAPS volunteered to resolve the complaint. During investigations OCR found several concerns regarding LAPS response to the alleged racial discrimination by the student player. (This is all documented in OCR documentation). From there, there have been continued allegations against the District about racial injustice.”
The second person who had signed up to give public comment was Luckie Daniels who has filed discrimination complaints with the District, the state Public Education Department and the OCR, as well as a lawsuit in First Judicial District Court.
Daniels told the Board she actually had planned to comment on the lawsuit
“When I realized Miriam was going to be here I wanted to reiterate some of the findings of her complaint. On October 9 and 10, both Supt. Guy and President Jaurigue made public comments that indicated that the reason for the OCR complaint never being disclosed to the public was there were no findings, that they kept it private to allow the investigation to continue. It was completely untrue, completely inaccurate and deceptive to the community,” Daniels said.
Daniels began to read the Legal Analysis from OCR, after saying, “This isn’t Luckie, this isn’t Miriam, this is what the OCR found.” When she was asked to stop, she noted that all of her public comments and Jones’s comments were posted.
“This was just to say to this Board that when you actually deny claims of discrimination without proper investigation without analyzing the issues that have been reported, you not only fear the people you’re discriminating against, you fail the students and the community.”
Daniels noted that the last paragraphs of her comments to the Board are posted online. Here is what she had to say:
“It is easy to attempt to control the narrative of a racial harassment incident that required intervention by the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) if you (LAPS District Administrators) intentionally concealed the discrimination matter from the Los Alamos community and took extensive measures to prevent the race harassment incident, OCR mandated intervention and findings from ever being disclosed to the public.
“Making public statements that misrepresent the actions taken by OCR and the interruption [by the LAPS District] of the investigation in progress to a community you withheld this matter from is unethical and should be, unlawful.
“My daughter has been referred to as “Hershey” and “Monkey” by LAPS students and she is an LAPS athlete. Given that between 2022 and 2023 the community experienced racial injustice incidents involving LAPS students chanting “Go back to the res!” (LAMS Football / Santa Fe Indian School) and appearing in “wife beater” t-shirts and shower caps for a self-defined “White Out” (LAHS Volleyball), how could LAPS District leadership determine the OCR matter involving Miriam Jones and her then 8th grade son, not to be an opportunity to lead a much needed Equity dialogue with LAPS students, parents and community members?
“Did LAPS District leaders report to OCR the multiple equity violations reported by LAHS student Olivia Hamilton last January – https://losalamosreporter.com/2023/01/05/racism-ableism-homophobia-increasing-at-los-alamos-public-schools? Did LAPS investigate and consult with OCR on this matter and the many others reported, which include mine? If yes, where are the investigation findings that should reflect the clarifications and process rigor documented in the District’s Resolution Agreement?
“Compare the LAPS District statements posted below against the Office of Civil Rights Resolution Agreement Legal Analysis and Conclusion.
“These messages are not a District oversight. They reflect an abuse of afforded status and efforts to control the narrative of critical equity information the LAPS community was never provided”.
The Los Alamos Reporter will continue to cover both Miriam Jones’s complaint and the more recent lawsuit and complaints filed by Luckie Daniels. An attorney, Tressineu McDaniel, was hired by the District to conduct an “independent” investigation of Daniels’ complaints. Although McDaniel has conducted multiple lengthy interviews with District staff and others named in the complaint, the findings have not yet been given to Daniels or the District, however Supt. Guy and Board President Jaurigue have denied all Daniels’s claims in a news release to local media. The investigator’s findings will be covered by the Reporter as soon as they are available.