Tuesday Evening 11-14

Blogger Comment: 3 board members were present and voted today at the 1:00 meeting. 2 voted to keep Diaz on Administrative Leave. One voted to bring her back. Guess who voted to bring her back? Leonel Briseno
Further proof that Briseno does not care about what the investigation may reveal nor does he care about employees who have endured abuse at the hands of this woman.
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Thank you channel 7 for exposing this bold faced lie. LCPS Board- wake up and act. this cannot continue.
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A bold faced lie!!! If you did not catch the implications of the Channel 7 breaking news, Dr. Diaz has just lied on public TV concerning the job posting for the Business manager position filled by John Marsillo. The job was never posted as stated(verified) by Jo Galvan, but Dr. Diaz stated, "I did in fact talk to several of my colleagues nationwide including Dr. Martin at NMSU and we did post the position. We were not satisfied with the number of applicants or the quality of applicants." What a bold faced lie. If this is not cause for dismissal (lying on public news cast) what is? !!! We cannot allow the credibility of this school district to be placed in further jeopardy. The Board needs to act decisively and quickly.
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I also posted this at Heath Haussamen's blog after he gave his somewhat uninformed opinion that our schools need to change on his site:"Change" is a word that is too broad for this situation. What our school system needs to do is keep all that is good about it, while incorporating new challenges and standards. That means inspiring, empowering, and engaging families and teaching professionals. Fear has no place in this work. We are all looking for a leader, someone who has a love for our kids, our town and our southwestern way of life at heart, and who treats people with the respect and positive encouragement we need to take on these big "changes". Also, this community has a unique culture, and one of its best attributes is its warmth and small-town feel. We know one another, and we also know that if we say or do something in one context, there those same people will be again later in another context, and so we tend to treat each other a little more gently here when we need to confront.

All of the above means that Sonya Diaz at the very least is a poor fit as the highest leader for our school system (which, quite frankly doesn't do as bad a job as many claim!). She came here as if she was running a major corporation, and decided to use impersonal and abusive Machiavellian tactics first, apologize later. She has a basic approach to the world in which she has little respect for those for whom she has no personal or political use.

She should have learned a little Anthropology at Harvard, and come into our community with the idea she is a GUEST and OBSERVER first, not a "Conquistadora". If you have any respect or knowledge of the history of New Mexico, many people here have a more recent memory of that kind of interaction, and tend to buck any semblance of status-based oppression. (And I say that as an Anglo, an adopted New Mexican of 20 years who feels more kinship and love for/from my "Hispanic" friends and neighbors than I ever did for those in my Volvo driving white ethnic group back East.) We need to get rid of her, and bring in someone who can speak our REAL language here in Las Cruces.
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Although it is painfully obvious that Dr. Diaz was the wrong choice for this district and that some heavy consequences hang in the balance, one thing is painfully clear: the source of the problem is the board. Unfortunately, we are stuck with two board members for several more years. One board member of the three not up for election is trying to work with and for the employees of the district. Briseno and Wooden are antagonistic to employees, in general, and must be replaced. They are poison. For that reason, I believe we need a recall or for the state to take over the district and replace the board. Just as an aside, one of the most surprising things to emerge from this discussion is the fact that Briseno supporters can actually use the computer!
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