A few weeks ago, the New Mexico Department of Justice (NMDOJ) submitted a letter to the Gallup McKinley County School District’s (GMCS) Board of Education, notifying the Board that it violated the state’s Open Meetings Act (OMA) during a meeting on May 16, 2025. At this meeting, members of the Board voted to cancel its contract with Stride K12, a company that had been providing online education for students in the district during the previous 5 years. In its letter, the NMDOJ expressed concerns about the “lack of ADA accommodation language in the meeting notice, restricted public access to the livestream, failure to list virtual access information and provide means for public comment, improper entry into executive session, and questionable legality of a ratification vote that supported prior action taken by administration to notify Stride of contract breaches.”

          During recent years, the GMCS Board of Education has sought to insulate itself from the citizens of McKinley County by holding its meetings at 1pm, making it difficult for community members to attend because the meetings conflict with most people’s work schedules. Additionally, these meetings often do not allow for public comment, or, even when public comment is allowed, the Board seriously limits what may be discussed, making it impossible for members of the community to exercise their democratic rights. During the May 16th meeting, a number of parents, whose children were in Stride K12’s New Mexico Destinations Career Academy (NMDCA), tried to voice their concerns about GMCS’s sudden decision to cancel its contract with the company, but they were denied public comment. The Board of Education appears to be more concerned with protecting Superintendent Mike Hyatt from public scrutiny than actually doing what is best for the students of McKinley County.

          The Board of Education is now using Stride as a scapegoat for the district’s academic failures and as a way to distract from its own lack of oversight when it comes to the district’s many questionable contracts with for-profit entities. Apparently, Hyatt, who applied for a lucrative job with Stride back in February, completely changed his mind about the company by April 1st, when he canceled its contract with the district after he failed to obtain a position with Stride. Hyatt is now facing an ethics complaint for violating the Governmental Conduct Act (GCA) and the state’s Procurement Code. According to the complaint, “Mr. Hyatt has ostensibly tried to leverage his position as Superintendent to secure a lucrative job with the Contractor, a company over which he has regulatory authority…Superintendent Hyatt has evidently put his own interest above [about] 4,200 students’ and their families’ interests by seeking employment contrary to the GCA and the Procurement Code.” Hyatt’s action against Stride is just the latest episode of retaliation against anyone who dares to question him. Numerous teachers and staff, including the district’s union president, Sawyer Masonjones, have been subjected to retaliation for questioning misguided policies and for asserting their legally protected rights.

          The Board of Education is supposed to represent the interests of the citizens of McKinley County, not the selfish interests of Mike Hyatt. By signing this petition, you are asking that the GMCS Board of Education take measures to establish greater transparency and democracy by moving its meeting times to 6pm, allowing for an Open Forum at each meeting, where community members can freely voice their concerns and question their School Board representatives, and shifting the Board's priorities away from protecting an unpopular superintendent to actually supporting students, teachers, staff, and the members of our community.