Española Schools, Media at an Impasse

Honor roll listings and other items that Española School Board members called “positive” news about their students have also been absent from the weekly in recent months.

The Sun, since the start of basketball season in November, has decided not to publish such stories after the school district began restricting access to Sun reporters and photographers trying to cover news stories.

Reporters must now seek permission from district Superintendent Evelyn Maruska before going on campus or interviewing staff or students, and that permission has been denied, the Sun says.

The contentious relationship goes beyond the superintendent, who was hired last summer.

At a meeting in November, school board member Ralph Medina compared the Sun, which is based in Española, to a “terrorist group” that “through their writing, on a weekly basis, let go roadside bombs … that usually hits a Hispanic person.”

Earlier, the Sun had published photos and phone numbers of each school board member, as well as Maruska, on two pages of its annual preseason basketball guide where the boys and girls Sundevils team previews usually run. The package ran under the bold headlines: “Where are the ‘Devils?” and “Where are the Lady Sundevils?”

Above the photos, the Sun reported that Maruska, with the support of the school board, “will not allow the Rio Grande Sun to access district campuses or photograph students without her explicit approval.”

School Board president Coco Archuleta, however, maintains this is not entirely true, pointing out that the Sun doesn’t need to have consent at sporting events.

“The Sun has made this policy themselves,” Archuleta said. “If they cannot report on everything at the schools, or they need to submit questions, then their policy is that they will not report on sports.”

Sun news editor Lou Mattei responded: “It doesn’t apply to sporting events because clearly it wouldn’t make sense at sporting events to say, ‘Here are the questions I’m going to ask after the game.’ What’s really going on in my opinion is that she (Maruska) wants to have control over what we report on.”

Position shifts

Maruska outlined her requirements to the Sun — which has a statewide reputation for its hard-nosed reporting on local government in northern New Mexico — during the Nov. 16 school board meeting.

In a recording of the meeting provided by the Sun, Maruska said: “What I have requested of the Rio Grande Sun is … that they would provide what their questions are, and also state the who, what, where and why. … That’s only because I want the principals or the directors to be able to answer the questions, or if they did not have all of the answers, they would have time to be able to research.”

When reached by the Journal for comment, Maruska changed her position a bit.

“All that I am asking for is the subject or the topic. Let’s say that they want to do a piece on uniforms in the school. Tell me it’s about uniforms — that’s all.”

Maruska said she is enforcing a policy that has been in existence since around 2005, and that her interpretation of this policy is dictated by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which governs the disclosure of student records.

“Because of FERPA, I didn’t want the media just going into the schools and taking pictures of the students,” she said. “We do need consent forms and need to let the parents know that possibly their children may be having their pictures taken.”

But the Sun’s Mattei said that in the past, the paper simply had to check in with the principal when arriving at a school and receive a badge.

“That’s the way it’s always worked … We’ve always gone to the principal and said, ‘Hey, this is what we’re here to do. Is that OK with you?’ ”

Getting permission from Maruska, however, has proven to be a challenge, Mattei said.

He cited a case where burglaries took place at Española Elementary. When a reporter asked the principal for information and permission to come on campus, he was referred to the superintendent, who said no.

“We wrote the story, talking to parents and teachers outside the gates,” said Mattei. “About a week later, Evelyn finally said he can talk to the principal but he still couldn’t come onto campus … to see where everything took place, to see what kind of security measures were implemented, and to basically talk to teachers and students about whether they felt it was a safe educational environment — the normal course of your duties as a reporter.”

The Sun also attempted to contact Maruska for permission to cover a high school student walkout on Dec. 2.

“She hung up on him (the reporter) first, and then stopped answering his phone calls,” Mattei said. “So there’s the problem right there; she can ignore us and we’re blocked from campus.”

The Sun is looking into possible legal action, Mattei said.

Board attack

Mattei, who began at the Sun as a schools reporter in 2009, even attempted to plead his case in front of the school board. It was during that meeting that the “terrorist” remark was made.

“When I went in front of the school board, instead of discussing the issue, they ended up slandering me personally and the newspaper with some pretty ridiculous attacks,” Mattei said.

Board member Archuleta, when reached by phone, said Maruska’s stance is her own. And while certain board members agree with her, he declined to name her supporters.

Jerry Schoeppner, who is a parent of an Española Valley High student and a longtime resident of Española, said the impasse between the Sun and the school district has been devastating.

“I talked to a lot of folks in the community and they’re not happy,” he said. “I’m not sure what the issue is — it depends on who you talk to, the school or the Rio Grande Sun. …
— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal