According to an investigation by the New Mexico attorney general’s office, indigenous and Hispanic students receive suspensions more frequently and for longer periods than their white peers who commit similar breaches at Gallup-McKinley County Schools.
According to the state’s Department of Justice’s 47-page statement released last week, indigenous students lose eight to ten times as many school days to suspensions as light students, while Hispanic students lose three to four times as numerous, according to the state’s Department of Justice’s statement released last year.
The Navajo Nation and the largest African American student body in the state make up Gallup-McKinley, a sprawling city that is twice the size of Delaware.
Raul Torrez, the state attorney general, ordered the investigation in 2023 after a report from New Mexico In Depth and ProPublica revealed the district’s higher rates of severe punishment for Indigenous and Hispanic children. The media agencies discovered that African individuals in New Mexico are expelled much more frequently than any other party. The area has a quarter of African students in New Mexico, but it was responsible for at least three-quarters of Indigenous student expulsions during the four school years that ended in 2020.
Yet in preschool and elementary grades, where there was a clear pattern of ambiguous infractions like “disorderly conduct,” were affected by this disparity.
Former district director Mike Hyatt at the time claimed that the news organizations ‘ reporting was” completely false” and that the findings were the result of the state’s own data entry errors and its broad classification of eviction.
However, state Department of Justice investigators claimed in a statement released last week that neither explanation explained the cultural disparities. Since Hyatt has retired, he was unable to post.
According to their report, Gallup-McKinley officials are asked to “acknowledge the facts” and “help the neighborhood” “replace its increased reliance on exclusive and discriminatory discipline.”
District officials may make punishments equal, define infractions and penalty ranges, and restrict suspensions, among the recommendations in the report. Additionally, the report recommended that Gallup-McKinley use restorative justice solutions, such as talking circles, where students discuss how their misconduct affected others, why they violated a school rule, and other choices they might have made in its place. Similar changes were demanded by the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission’s personal review on discrimination at Gallup-McKinley colleges in March 2026. The committee chair, Wendy Greyeyes, noted that nearby districts have now implemented these methods, but she claimed in an interview that it might have trouble fostering trust with its students and their families.
Researchers wrote that” kids in and around Gallup, along with their families and communities, will continue to be negatively impacted by the District’s current practices, as long as the city fixes its skill policies.”
According to investigators, that harm goes beyond the scientific, claiming that extracurricular activities like volunteering and free meals also prevent students from being suspended from school.
National studies found that suspension and eviction result in lower academic performance, a higher risk of being in contact with the criminal justice system, isolation, weak health, and lower wages, according to the report.
Additionally, the investigators requested that the city post regular reviews of control data and establish a clear and visible grievance procedure for students and families.
The city provided a deal auditor with control data that was “inexplicably unique” from what New Mexico In Depth and ProPublica reported to condition and U.S. departments of education, according to state Department of Justice investigators, who were contacted in 2023. Taus of administrative records were missing, according to the state Department of Justice investigators. The district’s claims that it had significantly reduced out-of-school droplets were disputed by the news organizations ‘ own reporting on the inspection.
Leadership denied that these issues exist and advocated a false and weak counter-analysis, according to the new AG record.
The new report also requested that state legislators and the New Mexico Public Education Department strengthen oversight of student control overall. At least once a year should be conducted for reviews at the state level, according to the statement.
According to Anjana Samant, one of the study’s authors and deputy director in the state Department of Justice, “extreme and structural as in Gallup-McKinley” is needed for these audits to be conducted to stop disparities from becoming as “extreme and widespread as in Gallup-McKinley.”
Additionally, the state Department of Education does mandate that suspended or expelled students receive training and other educational services while they are away from class. According to a director, Janelle Garcia from the office is reviewing the statement.
The new report urged state lawmakers to explore legislation that would have given the AG’s office stronger analytical tools to “identify and core out” civil rights violations in addition to certain administrative policy changes. That law was passed in 2023, but the governor refused. In what’s known as a pocket veto, Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham allowed the bill to pass without her signature.
The governor, a spokesperson said in an email on Wednesday, supports her decision, saying it’s unclear whether the new authority in the legislation “would have trumped federal student privacy protections and given the AG access to confidential student records.”
According to Michael Coleman, Lujan Grisham’s communications director, what is now important is ensuring the report’s findings are addressed right away.
According to Gallup-McKinley Superintendent Jvanna Hanks II, the district is reviewing the recommendations in the report, according to New Mexico In Depth and ProPublica.
In an email sent by a public relations firm the district has hired, Hanks wrote,” I am leading a period of transition that prioritizes community voices and renews our focus on every student.” The School District will be conducting our review using this report and current student data. Our goal is for students to be treated fairly in school, supported in school, and in our organization.
The first comment on ProPublica‘s article New Mexico AG calls for reform after a report found” substantial racial disparities” in one school district.
