Submitted by David C. Nuckols, EVCA teacher, and Craig Springer, parent.
Enrollment at Estancia Valley Classical Academy in Edgewood, a public charter school, has drastically declined. So has state funding. Five teachers were recently put out of a job and two went part-time. All seven volunteered for the personnel action. Slapdash signs in front of the school advertising the need for students signal a predictable and preventable concern.
EVCA struggles with a self-inflicted governance problem; nothing says you have something to hide like hiding something. We write out of civic duty and enduring concerns for education, free speech, and transparency in government.
Hillsdale College, the nation’s leader in classical education, planted EVCA as a Member Charter School in our community over a decade ago. EVCA’s local founders praised the Member School alliance—the first among many such schools in 33 states—as a godsend to robustly educate our children on intellectual and moral character and civic virtue.
The alliance provided at no cost, lesson resources for teachers and students; onsite training for teachers, the governing council, and executive director; easy access to master teachers for guidance; a pipeline to employ classically trained teachers; classroom observation by college staff; and professional marketing and public relations—all this as a means to recruit, retain, and educate students.
Then something suspicious happened.
Without a public notice or a hearing, EVCA’s governing council in near secrecy abandoned the Member School relationship. There was no debate among council members or with the polity served by the council—the parents—nor was there input sought from teachers charged with delivering a classical education.
Then council evaded answering a cardinal question: why?
Parents phoned and emailed Hillsdale College staff seeking to uncover the obfuscation, learning that the council would not adhere to the rules expected of Member Schools.
These include, quoting a document provided to us from the college:
“Board Member Term Limitation Policy. The term limitation policy ensures the regular turnover of all Board Members in a judicious fashion, especially providing for the turnover of founding members and the efficient transition of the Board from founding efforts of the school to long-term governance board membership.”
“Succession Plan. The Board has a written and/or executed succession plan outlining the transition of the Board from its founding membership and activity to that of long-term governance and strategy.”
Rebecca Lincoln, Director of Teacher Support for Hillsdale College’s charter schools, wrote: “Specifically, our Office had recommended term limits for Governing Council members; a commitment to limiting Governing Council involvement to governing rather than day-to-day presence or management; and a policy governing staff-board communications.”
The council issued a vacuous letter to parents that offered no substantive reasoning but promised: “Given that there appears to be a disparity in the way two NM Hillsdale Charter schools are operating, the Governing Council will investigate the disparities to see if there are actual differences in treatment by Hillsdale.”
That promise refers to Hozho Academy, a thriving Hillsdale Member School in Gallup. Repeated requests for the council’s findings and an inspection of public records revealed the council conducted no investigation.
It appears there is something to hide.
The council professes to take America’s founding principles seriously but it owns a totalitarian impulse. It is composed of unelected officials who govern without the consent of the people. It operates as a private club over a public school funded by taxpayers. Its members serve by invitations that come from current council members making it fecund for cronyism. The council recently attempted to seat an associate with a public history of sexual harassment in his capacity as a state official. He cost taxpayers $1.1 million in settlements and a jury award. The invitation was withdrawn when a female EVCA staff member raised a concern.
By rejecting Hillsdale’s rules for Member Schools, the council is scarcely accountable to anyone.
Some council members have been unable to hide their contempt for parents and teachers who disagree with their deeds, treating them more as subjects than citizens. Parent surveys addressing governance bear that out. The school asked teachers to come forward if they “fear retribution” from the council.
A council member mocked parents and another council member’s spouse confronted dissident speakers all with no apparent repudiation from the presiding officer, chilling speech. The council is unfriendly to the most sacred American principle; four members were sued in U.S. District Court for violating First Amendment rights, costing the school a large amount of money. EVCA issued an all-employee memo prohibiting teachers from speaking freely about the suit.
Enrollment has dropped, approaching 20 percent, and it stands to get worse as East Mountain High School expands into middle school grades in 2026. Brace for more layoffs.
The lust for power exceeds the virtue needed for proper self-governance. The insular council suffers from Founder’s Syndrome—an organizational dysfunction rooted in founders’ autocratic and excessive control, and resistance to leadership changes. For example the current council president, a founder, resides three hours away well beyond the community served by the school.
The council is obliged to embrace the rules expected of Hillsdale Member Schools lest EVCA become a brittle husk of its former self. The founders must vacate their seats. Establish term limits; ensure independence among council members; respect privacy demanded by FERPA to avoid costly tort claims; enforce a code of ethics; stay out of the classroom and not intimidate teachers; let the executive director exercise duties delegated by law only to her. Cancel the speech-prohibiting all-employee directive.
Moral clarity is not difficult. New Mexico ranks 50th in the nation in education. Restore trust, and return EVCA to its original promise that was quietly abandoned. The flames sparked by EVCA’s heroic founding should not be extinguished by a failing self-serving despotism.
This doesn’t sound quite right, especially without the perspective of the school administration and governing counsel who likely have additional clarifying information. To me, this article reads like those who “know the least” have “the most to say.”
This is not written by someone who “knows the least”. This is written by someone who was there from the beginning and is aware of all the circumstances. This article is long overdue.
Yes, agree! The counsel should clarify why after a decade of getting parents to sign kids up for a Hillsdale Member School they did not tell anyone they were changing EVCA and leaving Hillsdale. Clarify why the counsel hid on a meeting agenda what they planned to do as the very last agenda item late at night after a session closed to the public to make sure no parents or teachers would be in the room. Clarify why the counsel did not tell anyone for a long time that they changed EVCA. Clarify why the counsel left it to Hillsdale College staff to tell EVCA’s teachers who were in training a long way from home that they were no longer employed at a Hillsdale Member school. Clarify why the counsel will not investigate the Gallup Member school situation as said it would. Clarify why the counsel chose a chairman that doesn’t live here.
I have two students in the school and had planned to start a third in the fall. I did not know the details of this separation from Hillsdale until now. I was also not aware there was a lawsuit, until recently, based on infringement of free speech. I will say that I have noticed a decline in standards which now makes sense that it is directly connected to the separation from Hillsdale. My husband and I have been considering alternative schooling for our children and if the situation at EVCA does not change I can not see continuing into middle school.
As a former student, I experienced this school as profoundly abusive. I have found several others with similar experiences, and I’ve been trying to figure out what can be done about this. If anyone is interested in pursuing this or has ideas please reach out.
5054599688
Looking past the claims of “he said, she said” the apparent lack of transparency and public comment from the governing council is concerning, and is quite the tell on their stance in this whole mess. The lack of public records, and the fact that the sister school in Gallup can continue to function with no apparent issues shows that there is a discrepancy between the leadership between both schools. Hopefully things will be resolved, and students can receive the proper education that they deserve.
I am so disappointed in EVCA! My kids used to attend there, but we moved out of state. I am broken hearted to hear that this is going on there. I was SHOCKED to read they broke ties with Hillsdale. I hope they do the right thing and get EVCA back to where is was… an oasis in a desert of NM corruption.
This is most concerning. As a resident of Edgewood, I had heard that the school was separating from Hillsdale because the state was requiring certain curriculum that was forcing the school to change what it taught. I know there are “monitors” lack of the correct term that the state PED requires to be in place to check on how schools are teaching and what they are teaching. The PED is very heavy handed I am told. I am a strong adovate for free speech. I would like to know more and also who is on the council.
The governing counsel did it to the school, not the PED. Ask a teacher who’s worked at EVCA for a while what the counsel did. The school told teachers not to talk when the counsel got sued or they could get in trouble. Nuckols apparently appreciates free speech like you.
As a student of EVCA I must say that this is shocking. I knew some of the details included in this article, however most of it was a mystery. I can still say that the education at this school is still very good. I agree that the council suffers from founders’ syndrome and they need to let go. Instead of wasting our money on unnecessary outputs, we should use our resources (as many of teachers have taught us) and solve the problem. I hope the problem will soon be resolved and I and my peers can continue our education at the school.
Here is a link to a story regarding the law suit. The suit cost the school thousands of dollars and a reputation. This newspaper story prompted the school to put speech restrictions on teachers or they could lose their jobs. I believe those restrictions are still in place, but the First Amendment trumps a school board’s illegitimate restrictions. Retaliation could prove costly and the school might once again face a costly payout. https://nm.news/2024/02/09/edgewood-charter-school-sued-by-parent-for-change-in-principles/
Please mark your calendars and make plans to attend EVCA’s Public Forum. EVCA’s Governing Council and Administration will be present to share general information and answer questions that have been brought to our attention via surveys and other means. There will be a Q&A session. Questions for the forum do not have to come in advance. Tuesday, February 3rd, 6:00-8:00pm. EVCA Gymnasium.
I am a senior mechanical engineering major at Texas Tech University after proudly graduating from EVCA in 2023. I acknowledge my relationship as a son of a council member. My father did not tell me to write this. As a former EVCA student and sibling of 4 current students, I must say this conduct from Mr. Nuckols and Mr. Springer is disappointing. They left many details out, so I thought I would comment and weigh in to provide details for a few main issues.
EVCA has not cut ties with Hillsdale – this confusion is clear from the other comments. EVCA never had member school status. Under new leadership in 2023, Hillsdale introduced different contracts for their charter schools. EVCA chose to become a Hillsdale curriculum school (not a Hillsdale member school), which keeps Hillsdale curriculum in the classroom, but does not have all the benefits that the previous contract had (such as teacher training). The reason? One of the member status stipulations violated a NM charter school statute. The law states that charter school boards must handle finances (Chapter 22 Article 8B Section 22-8B-6, paragraph I.; find at https://law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/chapter-22/article-8B/section-22-8B-6/), and Hillsdale would not permit this at a member status. Instead of putting the school at legal risk (and on advice from the school’s attorney), the board decided to subscribe to the curriculum school contract. There was no conniving plan or desperate grasp for power. If you think about it, the board is made up of volunteers that give hundreds of hours of service a year. In return, they have to put up with issues like this, enduring calumny and lawsuits. You really think they’re desperate to stay in this position? What is there to gain?
Another detail left out was the source of the lawsuit against the board members. Mr. Springer instigated the lawsuit on a sore-loser attitude. The “free speech violation” he sued for was merely being told that his speech did not reflect the values of truth, goodness, and beauty from a board member during a dialogue – a dialogue that lasted 15-20 minutes. Right or wrong, he was not stopped from speaking. If anyone is upset at the thousands of dollars lost or the damaged reputation of the school, you can take your complaints to Mr. Springer. Hope this clears some things up. For those of you that still have doubts, go to the meeting on February 3rd.
Teachers, all of them, should sue the school for blocking freedom of speech. The gag-order violates the First Amendment. The feckless counsel prohibits free speech at school and off campus! Make them stop. Look for a plaintiff’s attorney.
As a former student, I experienced this school as profoundly abusive. I have found several others with similar experiences, and I’ve been trying to figure out what can be done about this. If anyone is interested in pursuing this or has ideas please reach out. 5054599688
With respect, I just posted a screen shot from EVCA’s website on the EVCA Facebook page that shows EVCA as a Hillsdale MEMBER school from 2017 to 2023. The board voted to sever ties with Hillsdale as a Member School. In addition, the school actively recruited in that time frame as a Hillsdale Member school. (That page has since been taken down.) The Hillsdale MEMBER School in Gallop, NM has had not issues with Charter School status. Mr. Springer’s lawsuit against EVCA violating his First Amendment Rights was settled in his favor, meaning the Gov Board did violate his First Amendment rights. “Truth, goodness and values?” That is an ironic statement.