LAPS TRANSPARENCY: IPRA / Office of Civil Rights FOIA - Resolution Agreement (Executed 7/9/2022)

[Luckie Daniels]

Since September 2022 I have struggled to receive timely, honest, transparent responses from LAPS District administrators when inquiring about District DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) initiatives, nondiscrimination policies, and anti-racism protections for marginalized students and families. 

Initially, my focus was to understand the District's history related to implementing its state-mandated Equity Council. However, as the months progressed I realized LAPS District administrators had no intention of providing me transparent and honest answers, and unfortunately, it became clear ensuring Equity for marginalized LAPS District students and families was not a District priority.

After 15 months, I've exhausted all administrative remedies and have moved forward with legal action against LAPS District administrators citing violations of our federally protected Civil Rights, state-protected New Mexico Civil Rights, and LAPS policies and procedures protections for students and families in the LAPS community.

When LAPS District administrators respond publically with blanket denials of all our now (15) claims, they are in essence declaring me and my daughter, a liar. 

Given I have been repeatedly denied by the LAPS School Board any opportunity to share our experience as a new Black family in Los Alamos, I will utilize the 2 minutes afforded to me via "Public Comments" to provide community members a window into how I have been engaged by LAPS District administrators for the past 1.5 years.

Moving forward, at every District Board Meeting I'm able to attend (in-person or virtually) I will share a historical communication that reflects what is required of me to obtain ANY information from the LAPS District that relates to the Equity protections and Civil Rights of my family or other marginalized students. All shared communications are included in the 1,792 documents currently provided to support the investigations and legal complaints in progress.

Below, I have shared the LAPS District's idea of transparency and fairness towards me. Carter Payne (LAPS Title XI Coordinator) provided the District's official response to why it failed to disclose Title VI (nondiscrimination) non-compliance that required intervention by the Office of Civil Rights from 2021-2023, resulting in a more defined Nondiscrimination Policy (5130) and District monitoring. 

The District identified the mandated OCR Nondiscrimination updates as changes to the 5130 REGULATION, not the 5130 POLICY; and given regulations do not require "board approval", the District had no obligation to bring significant changes to how LAPS manages discrimination complaints, before the public for a School Board vote. This action when coupled with LAPS District administrators' decision to not disseminate the updated 5130 Policy/Regulation, means the District used unknown policies (8010 and 8030) to conceal Office of Civil Rights updates to Title VI nondiscrimination policies, and no one in the Los Alamos community would ever be aware it happened.

Note the differences in how the Office of Civil Rights responds to a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) vs. the LAPS District response to the same IPRA (Inspection of Public Records Act) Request.

TRANSPARENCY?

9/15/23 DISTRICT COMMUNICATION IN RESPONSE TO IPRA REQUEST FROM LUCKIE DANIELS

Ms. Daniels,

In your September 15, 2023, IPRA request you asked for:

"3.          All LAPS District emailed, written, and digital communications related to the request by Maire O'Neill for LAPS District 5130R Nondiscrimination Policy and investigation process posting, specific to necessary approvals required by the LAPS School Board.

4.            All LAPS District emailed, written, and digital communications related to the request by Luckie Daniels for LAPS District 5130R Nondiscrimination Policy and investigation process posting, specific to necessary approvals required by the LAPS School Board.  

5.            All LAPS District emailed, written, and digital communications related to LAPS District's decision to not publicly disclose to Los Alamos students, parents, and community circumstances related to the required update (February 2023) of the LAPS District's 5130R Nondiscrimination Policy and investigation process

6.            All LAPS District emailed, written, and digital communications and documentation related to the LAPS District's ability to not require LAPS School Board approval of the updated 5130R Nondiscrimination Policy and Grievance investigation process."

Specifically, related to the items above:

3. The email exchange with Maire O'Neill dated September 14 that is included in the fulfillment of the request is the only record that we have.

4. The email exchange dated September 14 with you is the only record that we have.

5. We do not have any records related to this request.

6. We do not have any communications records related to this request.  The included policies 8010 and 8030 describe the board process for reviewing policies.  There is a distinction between policy adopted by the board and the administrative regulation that accompanies it.  The document linked from the school board section of our district webpage named "5130 Pol- Nondiscrimination" is the policy, and 5130 R is the administrative regulation, which does not require approval.

If you are instead seeking “since 2022….email communications, documents and/or messages that have been transmitted by LAPS District administrators and School Board members with respect to the actions taken by the Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, pertaining to the District’s 5130R Nondiscrimination regulation and investigation process,” I will initiate a new request and will work with our IT department to conduct a new search of records.

Respectfully,

Carter Payne 
Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning
Los Alamos Public Schools

9/15/23 RESPONSE TO CARTER PAYNE/LAPS DISTRICT FROM PARENT, LUCKIE DANIELS

Carter -

You will never again be able to feign naivete when discussing the bias, discrimination, and racial inequity existing in the Los Alamos Public School District, or deny the direct role you've played in allowing bigotry in our school system and community to foster. You sat across from me for MONTHS, knowingly mitigating with the Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, the very issue that ushered me to the table in the first place. My purpose was clear from the start. I sought to address the LAPS District's management of discrimination complaints and to reduce the trauma impacts marginalized parents and students experience here by working with the LAPS District to execute multiple initiatives to promote administrator, teacher, staff, and student cultural competency development [and accountability]. 

I openly challenged your and Jennifer Guy's repeated decisions to NOT be transparent in sharing the frequent incidents of discrimination and racism occurring in the District. To attempt to diminish my role as an engaged Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging EXPERT to LinkedIn Learning recommendations and Student Speaker Series coordination, is absurd, blatantly dishonest, and insulting; a macro-agression that speaks to why were are where we are today.

Take note of the herculean efforts being required of an African-American parent to understand the history, work, and outcomes related to the Title VI incompliance matter the District knowingly hid and that you were responsible for managing. Do you remember my repeated statement that EQUITY is HUMAN, not ACADEMIC work? Do you even better understand or see the truth in this statement now?

Transformative Equity change requires conviction, courage, and conscientiousness; leadership qualities not embraced by any administrator in the Los Alamos Public School District.

Do not initiate a new IPRA Request. A FOIA Request related to Case No. 08-22-1195, requesting ALL applicable communications, has been submitted to the Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights. I have no doubt that all of the covert wrongdoing as it relates to racial inequity in the LAPS District (and the leaders driving it) will be public knowledge soon.

Manipulative, dishonest, and resistant to fairness. I am honestly embarrassed to have ever believed Jennifer Guy and Carter Payne were capable of leading equity change. In truth, you both represent the reason why no equity effort in the LAPS District has been or will be successful.

Ms. Daniels

IPRA (INSPECTION OF PUBLIC RECORDS ACT) RESPONSE DOCUMENTS PROVIDED BY CARTER PAYNE/LAPS DISTRICT TO LUCKIE DANIELS - OCR RESOLUTION AGREEMENT (EXECUTED BY J. GUY 7/29/2022)

FOIA (FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT) RESPONSE DOCUMENTS PROVIDED BY OFFICE OF CIVIL RIGHTS TO LUCKIE DANIELS - OCR RESOLUTION AGREEMENT (EXECUTED BY J. GUY 7/29/2022)