BY JENNIFER GUY
Superintendent
Los AIamos Public Schools

Mrs. O’Neill,

I am writing in response to your recent article on April 11, 2024, Investigation Into Discrimination Complaint Against LAPS Passes 209 Day Mark. (https://losalamosreporter.com/2024/04/11/investigation-into-discrimination-complaint-against-laps-passes-209-day-mark/) That article contained many inaccurate and misleading statements, which I would like to correct on behalf of the Los Alamos Schools.

First, you falsely alleged that our legal counsel “has had direct access to the investigation findings for more than 6 months without anyone’s knowledge and [has] refused to be responsive in addressing obvious concerns about the integrity of the district’s investigation, due process, and fairness to my daughter and me as complainants.” We respectfully request a correction as the investigation findings are not complete and have not yet been available to the district or any legal counsel affiliated with the district. Likewise, this is an investigation of a claim made under District policy, and it is therefore appropriate that it has been initiated and conducted in accordance with our policy. Asserting such a practice is somehow “advantageous to LAPS” is simply false, not to mention unfair and unsubstantiated.

In accordance with our nondiscrimination policy, given the nature of Ms. Daniels’ September 2023 claim that she had been discriminated against by me and Assistant Superintendent Carter Payne, we properly authorized the engagement of a highly qualified, experienced, independent investigator to investigate that complaint. At that time, Ms. Daniels alleged that the district responded faster to an email question regarding policy submitted by you, Maire O’Neill, than we did to Ms. Daniels, who submitted the same question in the same time frame. We expected this initial complaint to be investigated and resolved quickly, especially since the emails are dated and time stamped showing that a timely response was provided for inquiries made by you, Ms. O’Neill, and Ms. Daniels.

However, once an investigator was selected, Ms. Daniels began to add additional claims, and then continued to do so over the course of several months. Each complaint required additional investigation, and continued to extend the timeline to complete the investigation. The investigator had to have time to conduct interviews and write up the findings for each claim. Because of our commitment to nondiscrimination and a thorough investigation, the District continued to pay the significant cost to investigate the growing list of allegations.

However, when Ms. Daniels added another new complaint in February, the District notified her and the investigator that no further complaints would be addressed in the investigation in order to allow the investigation to conclude and the reports to be issued. 

In short, the length of this investigation is the result of Ms. Daniels’ continued supplemental of her original claims. We too look forward to the conclusion of this matter. As your own article states, the interview of just one witness apparently took 13 hours and resulted in the submission of more than 400 documents.

The district is committed to nondiscrimination and to following our policy, one that was developed with and approved by the OCR. We have and will continue to fully cooperate with the investigation, as we have provided hundreds of documents and devoted many, many hours of staff time for investigation interviews. We did not anticipate that more and more allegations would drag the process out over several months, resulting in vastly more time than anticipated and additional expense for the District.

The district is looking forward to resolving this matter and receiving the findings. We continue to deny the allegations raised. We will also continue to serve and support students and families in our district fairly and equitably. We love our diverse community and student population. We will continue to learn and grow together. If any student or family has concerns or experiences of discrimination, we encourage them to reach out to their teacher, principal, or counselor so that we can promptly address the situation. Parents can also contact Inclusive Schools Director Andrea Determan at 505-663-2222.

Editor’s note: The quotes referenced by Supt. Guy is are statements made by Ms Daniels in person to the Los Alamos Reporter or in a March 18, 2024 email to Supt. Guy, Asst. Supt. Payne, F3 Law, Attorney Karla Schultz, LAPS Board President Antonio Jaurigue, PED Sec. Arsenio Romero and the Attorney General’s Office. Below are screenshots of the professional services engagement agreement for the ongoing investigation by F3 Law.