by Bryant Furlow, New Mexico In Depth

This article was produced by New Mexico In Depth, which has twice been a member of ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published.

A New Mexico school district that was disproportionately issuing harsh punishments to Indigenous students says it has dramatically reduced its long-term suspensions.

Two years ago, New Mexico In Depth and ProPublica reported that Indigenous children in New Mexico were facing higher rates of harsh school punishment, triggering a state Department of Justice civil rights inquiry into the discipline practices of the school district largely responsible for the disparity.

According to a January email from Gallup-McKinley County Schools Superintendent Mike Hyatt, the number of students kicked out of the district for 90 days or longer dropped from 21 children during the 2021-22 school year to six the following year and just one last year. Of those 28 long-term removals, 86%, or 24 cases, involved Native students.

But the state refused to provide New Mexico In Depth with complete, unredacted discipline data for the years in question, citing federal public records law governing educational records, making it impossible to independently verify those claims.

The district now appears to be more judicious in imposing long-term removals, reserving them for serious, potentially dangerous infractions.

As an example: From 2016-17 to 2019-20,........

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