An investigation by the New Mexico attorney general’s office has uncovered substantial racial disparities in disciplinary actions at Gallup-McKinley County Schools, where Indigenous and Hispanic students are suspended more frequently and for longer durations than white students committing similar infractions.

According to a 47-page report released by the state’s Department of Justice, Indigenous students lose eight to 10 times more classroom days to suspensions than white students, while Hispanic students lose three to four times as many. Gallup-McKinley, which spans part of the Navajo Nation, has the largest Native American student population of any public school district in the United States.

The investigation was initiated in 2023 by Attorney General Raúl Torrez following reporting by New Mexico In Depth and ProPublica that exposed high rates of harsh punishment for Native and Hispanic children in the district. The news organizations also found that Native students in New Mexico are expelled more often than any other group. Although the district enrolls a quarter of the state’s Native students, it accounted for at least three-quarters of Native student expulsions during the four school years ending in 2020.

Former district Superintendent Mike Hyatt disputed the findings at the time, calling the reporting “completely false” and attributing discrepancies to data entry errors and the district’s broad definition of expulsion.

Wendy Greyeyes, chair of the commission reviewing the issue, noted that neighboring districts use alternative disciplinary approaches but expressed concern that Gallup-McKinley might struggle to build trust with students and families.

In 2023, after the investigative reports were published, the district provided a contract auditor with discipline data that was “inexplicably different” from what it had reported to state and federal education departments, with thousands of disciplinary records missing, according to the Department of Justice investigators.

A spokesperson for the governor stated via email that the governor stands by her decision not to grant the attorney general expanded powers to access confidential student records, citing uncertainty over whether such powers would override federal student privacy protections.

Sources