Espanola Valley School District Muffles the Rio Grande Sun

“It’s ridiculous,” these two words were articulated with a disbelieving shake of her head as a confidential source, confidential because she’s a teacher in Espanola and fears reprisal from the Espanola Valley School District for talking with the media.

Here’s the story.

The Rio Grande Sun, one of the state’s leading investigative newspapers, has recently covered stories that paint the EVSD in less than ideal terms.

There’s the recent story about a fifth grade student bringing a pellet gun to school. School officials say they reported the incident to the police, but the Sun’s investigation revealed otherwise.

There was a story about lack of text books in the classrooms while school administrators get hefty salary increases.

The list goes on and on. For example, some classrooms in Espanola have not had a certified teacher since school began; the classes are taught by subs.

Now, according to other confidential sources, the Sun reporters won’t be allowed to take pictures at the Sundevils’ basketball games.  Ok, says the Sun, then we won‘t cover the games.

What a stand-off. One has to wonder how Sundevil fans will react to this “ridiculous” situation.

The school system has also made it difficult for Sun reporters to get information by refusing to return phone calls and making the reporters jump through hoops to get school stories.

Also, employees of the EVSD have been forbidden to read the Sun online, according to several sources.

This, all happening in a public school. What kind of message does this send the students and community?  In a democracy don’t we have freedom of speech and freedom of the press?

We commend the Rio Grande Sun for their reporting and as for the Espanola Valley School District, let the people of the school district decide if they want their children to learn the basic principles of democracy or the basic principles of unlimited authority in the hands of a bureaucracy.