On June 1, 2011 ATC’s Governing Council (GC) transferred control of the school to the Santa Fe Public Schools (SFPS) school district. Each councilmember then resigned, dissolving the GC.

One of the questions that was raised by this action and the circumstances that caused it was “What is the GC?” As a charter school, ATC is independently responsible for almost all of its operations. Because of their independence, charter schools are led by boards whose responsibilities include selection the principal, setting his or her salary, writing budgets and establishing and maintaining the school’s mission and vision.

When the GC gave control of ATC to SFPS, it suspended its Charter with the understanding that the Charter would be renewed and a new GC formed. In October, 2011 the parents and staff of ATC came to the school to elect the new council members.

The new GC consists of two ATC parents, two professional educators, two members of the community and one member with a financial background. The person in each category with the highest number of votes will serve for three years, the other for two.

The parents elected were Tannis Fox, mother of senior Ansel Carpenter and Gordon Lawrie, father of eighth grader Bridie Alexander-Lawrie; the professional educators are Kelly Horn and Leslie Fagre; the community members are Donna Grein and Martin Dryden, a member of the previous GC; the finance member is Mel Morgan, the former chief financial officer of SFPS.

The newly elected GC does not officially start governance of the school until the SFPS Board of Education (Board) restores the school’s Charter.

The GC held an organizational meeting on December 15, 2011. The GC elected Fox as its president, Grein as its vice president and Fagre as its secretary.

In a letter to the ATC community, the GC said “The intent of the new Council is to restore ATC’s charter.  In order to accomplish this, ATC needs to demonstrate to the SFPS that ATC can operate on its own.  We can only accomplish this with the efforts of ATC parents, students and faculty.” Currently, the GC is in training. It has begun work and discussion with the Board regarding reinstating of the Charter.

The previous GC was faced with controversy close to the end of last school year when it chose to not renew the contract of Ed Wood, ATC’s then-director. Among the complaints leveled by some parents were that the GC was attempting to micromanage the school and the director.

At the request of several parents, the SFPS conducted an investigation into the affairs of the school and released a report containing their findings and recommendations. The SFPS, headed by Superintendent Bobby Gutierrez, concluded that, among other things, the school’s finances had been misused. The report also recommended that the GC be reshuffled.

The new GC has been met with elation by Principal Susan Lumley, Dean of Students Jenny Mundy-Castle and Gutierrez and others. However, not everyone is satisfied. Emily Lucero, mother of freshman Sol Sanchez y Lucero was a candidate for GC seats now occupied by Fox and Lawrie. She says that she believes the new GC does not reflect the Spanish-speaking population at ATC. Lucero asked Lumley and Gutierrez that the elections be examined or invalidated. They decided not to take any action. Lucero also asked various members of the Board to examine the election, telling one that she had “been thwarted at every turn.” She believed that the GC did not reflect all aspects of ATC telling the superintendent in an email, “there are no people of color on the board at all. The situation needs to be addressed.” The Board decided against taking action.

In addition to the committees of the GC required by state law, the GC has established a committee to write GC bylaws, correcting many of the issues that there were with the old GC, a committee to formulate the school’s mission and vision and a committee to deal with the school’s lease and facility. The school’s lease costs more than $40,000 each month, more than twice an average lease for such a building. Lumley and others have expressed that the high cost of the building is one of the major reasons for ATC’s lack of supplies, clubs, sports teams and other things involved in the operation of the school.

Reporting contributed by Alana Culberson.