BY ANTONIO JAURIGUE
President
LAPS Board
Editor’s note: As explained to Mr. Jaurigue, it is not the Los Alamos Reporter’s practice to rewrite articles at a reader’s request. https://losalamosreporter.com/2023/12/20/taos-parent-travels-to-school-board-meeting-to-comment-on-laps-handling-of-alleged-racial-slurs-at-2021-soccer-game/ With things as contentious as they are, the Reporter is not willing to get into online back and forth with Mr. Jaurigue. A retaliation complaint has recently been filed with the OCR by Miriam Jones.
I am writing to comment on errors in some of your recent articles about the Los Alamos Public Schools. I would like to request that you correct those inaccuracies.
In the article, posted on 12-20-23, titled “Taos Parent Travels To School Board Meeting To Comment On LAPS Handling Of Alleged Racial Slurs At 2021 Soccer Game,” you made several statement that are inaccurate, and inconsistent with what was written in the (Department of Education Office of Civil Rights) OCR report you cited. Therefore, I believe this mistake should be publicly corrected to reflect the OCR investigation statements, some of which you also quoted.
Specifically, you assert as fact Ms. (Miriam) Jones’ claims of racist language being used by a Los Alamos student, and inaccurately imply such language was directed at her son (Taos Student 2). However, the OCR report clearly shows that while he was on the bench, Taos Student 2 (the child of Ms. Jones) claimed that during the game he “heard LAPS Student 1 make monkey noises directed at the Hispanic player who was guarding him (Taos Student 1).” But the report also states that ”Taos Student 1 told OCR that he did not hear LAPS Student 1 make monkey noises or see any monkey gestures” (OCR Report, July 2022, pg 5).
Also as written, your story misleadingly and incorrectly implies that the Los Alamos Schools did not act on Ms. Jones’s allegations about these alleged remarks. In fact, as the OCR investigation letter said to Ms. Jones: “On October 25, 2021, two weeks after the LAPS AD first received notice about the monkey noise allegation from the parent of Taos Student 3 and nine days after you had raised the allegation with the LAPS AD and the LAPS Assistant Superintendent, the latter spoke with you by phone to discuss the monkey noise allegation. The Assistant Superintendent told you that the District had found no evidence that the monkey noises happened. During the call with the Assistant Superintendent, you confirmed that no additional incidents of racism occurred at the second game between LAPS and Taos on October 19, 2021” (OCR Report, July 29, 2022, pg. 8). The district followed up with Ms. Jones in a timely manner multiple times and then later fully cooperated with the OCR investigation. This is evidenced by the many email communications you have received.
Finally, the OCR also wrote to Ms. Jones that “On December 10, 2021, the LAPS Assistant Superintendent sent you a three-page letter summarizing the District’s investigation and findings.”(OCR Report, July 29, 2022, pg 9).
OCR’s own statements are evidence that your assertion the District did not act on or address Ms. Jones’ claims of allegedly discriminatory conduct by an LAPS student, or that she has not received closure, are inaccurate. The article therefore misleads the public on the facts of that matter, and on the outcome of the resolved OCR complaint.
I want to further note that the LAPS investigation found Ms. Jone’s spouse/boyfriend had been ejected from the game at issue because of his own unacceptable conduct. While these parents were most likely upset about that, the inappropriate behavior demonstrated by the adult was also upsetting to LAPS. We expect proper conduct and good sportsmanship from our students, staff, and fans. This situation was disappointing.
We were happy to cooperate with the OCR complaint and investigation and there was no attempt to hide information or mislead anyone as your articles imply. As the OCR report states on page 9: “it is appropriate to resolve the allegation through a voluntary resolution agreement under Section 302 of OCR’s Case Processing Manual because OCR has identified several concerns to date regarding the District’s response to the allegations of racial discrimination by one of its soccer players against players on the Taos soccer team.” The OCR complaint was resolved with no findings for the district. This is an important distinction. The report noted “concerns”, which are distinct from “findings”, but when the resolution was completed there were no further issues. The resolution agreement for training and policy revisions provided a good path forward for our district to ensure our staff have an opportunity to continue to learn and grow. We always welcome opportunities for training. Ms. Jones received communication from both the district and OCR that clearly stated that there were no findings against the district or any evidence that the LAPS player made inappropriate or discriminatory comments or noises.
Your recent articles do not make these facts clear to the public and falsely imply that a student was guilty of this act. Such reporting is disappointing, and it is misleading, unfair and hurtful to the student, his family, and the other players on the team who still live in the district.
Your acknowledgement and correction would therefore be warranted and appreciated.
Please let me also note, for the record, and as you well know, our Board’s long-standing practice has been that public comment periods are limited to two minutes. It is unduly inflammatory to imply otherwise, as you did in your story.
I am requesting these be corrected in a separate article, rather than having the past article updated, as that correction may be missed by a majority of readers.
LAPS administration was notified of the complaint (08-22-1195) by the OCR in July 2022. See https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/investigations/more/08221195-a.pdf
The Resolution Agreement between OCR and LAPS may be viewed at https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/investigations/more/08221195-b.pdf