BY LUCKIE DANIELS
Editor,
In response to LAPS Superintendent Jennifer Guy’s response to your recent article, Investigations Discrimination Complaint Against LAPS Passes 209 Day Mark, (https://losalamosreporter.com/2024/04/11/investigation-into-discrimination-complaint-against-laps-passes-209-day-mark/) I have a few brief comments.
My daughter and I returned to New Mexico in June 2022 after one year in Arizona because we needed to be closer to my son Justis, to offer him support with an unexpected diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder that turned his and our world upside down.
We chose Los Alamos over our “heart home” of Taos because we wanted Jaiya to have access to New Mexico’s best academic resources and the most committed and skilled Track and Field Coach in the nation, Ernie Martinez. We got both. Jaiya has excelled academically at LAHS, and thanks to the teaching gift that is Lynn Ovaska, discovered her passion for all things psychology-centered. In college, she will pursue a Psychology/Behavioral Science major, with the plan to practice Sports Psychology when her track and field career comes to an end. As a result of the transparency that Lynn incorporates into her teaching, Jaiya has gained a better understanding of her brother’s diagnosis and discovered tools for how she and our family can best support him.: https://www.filmprizenm.com/video/see-justis/
Ernie Martinez is a highly respected T&F coach. As an advisor and track mentor for Jaiya, we knew exactly what we’d get; a committed coach who would challenge a gifted athlete to be better. What we didn’t count on were coaches Chuck Cotter, Steven and Lindsey Montoya, Maryann Novak, and Christie Kelly who have embraced Jai since Day 1. These folks love my kid, and it has made all the difference. Her LAHS teammates and coaches have been Jaiya’s “safe space”.
Unfortunately, we also found here a broader community far less welcoming of having us as neighbors, and a public school system negligent in properly acknowledging and correcting the issues of racism, prejudice, and discrimination we were being impacted by.
It is unrealistic to expect that behaviors and actions that warranted multiple discrimination complaints and a civil rights lawsuit, would magically cease once our district discrimination investigation began. How could they?
Racism, prejudice, and discrimination don’t work that way; there is no “switch” to turn off, especially if the actions in question are being denied and defended. Victim blaming and retaliation are also part of the discrimination cycle.
In her response, Supt. Guy failed to identify that (4) of the additional allegations added since filing our LAPS 5130/5130R Discrimination Complaint on September 15, 2023, were instances of LAPS retaliation that we were directed by investigator Treesineu McDaniel to report immediately.
Supt. Guy also did not offer in her response that (2) of the additional allegations being investigated were parent grievances/complaints submitted to her and/or the LAPS School Board that were deferred—by her—to Treesineu McDaniel.
Are we wrong for reporting ongoing retaliation and at fault for LAPS directives that extended the investigation timeline?
Below is the March 18, 2024, email communication to LAPS Administrators, F3 Law, and LAPS legal counsel Karla Schultz, referenced by the Los Alamos Reporter. This communication was sent following the delayed fulfillment of an IPRA Request that provided answers to questions related to F3 Law’s engagement and contractual obligations that I’d repeatedly requested since October 2023, without ever receiving any response from LAPS.
More than blame and broad strokes, details matter. They are essential.
As my March 18, 2024 email reflects, I have no reason to afford the LAPS District, its administrators, or legal counsel the benefit of the doubt as it relates to the handling of my LAPS Discrimination Complaint. Supt. Guy took issue with my comments as complainant in this matter, not the accuracy of the Los Alamos Reporter’s reporting. O’Neill’s accuracy in citing the details and timeline of my discrimination complaint investigation was not challenged, and rightly so.
Supt. Guy cited collaboration on the LAPS 5130/5130R Nondiscrimination Policy with the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights but failed to offer that this “work” was hidden from the LAPS community and only became public knowledge because of a previous IPRA Request initiated by me.
Additionally, the Nondiscrimination Policy referenced by Supt. Guy was not properly disseminated when completed and was the result of LAPS Title VI. Violations due to being non-compliant in the handling of district discrimination complaints.
Spouting recently crafted disclaimers of equity and equality is the easy part.
LAPS’ history, work, and modeling of these core values [that should be afforded to everyone in its community] are where our claims rest.
March 18, 2024 email from Luckie Daniels to LAPS administration, F3 Law and Karla Schultz.