Staff Reports
The Gallup-McKinley County Schools’ school board currently has three seats up for election: Districts 2, 4, and 5. The seats are currently held by Board Vice President Charles Long, Board President Christopher Mortensen, and Board Secretary Michael Schaff.
GMCS DISTRICT 2
There are three other candidates vying for the school board’s District 2 seat besides Long. Georgianna Desiderio, Freda Joe, and Titus Nez are all throwing their hats into the ring for the seat.
Long has served as the board’s vice president for several years since winning the November 2021 election with 46% of the vote.
Desiderio doesn’t have a website or a social media page for her campaign, but she has been endorsed by the McKinley County Federation of United School Employees.
Joe doesn’t have a website or a social media page, but she is currently the district’s grant administrator.
Nez previously served on the school board from 2013 to 2016. For this race, he lists five key issues to tackle on his website: student success and achievement; supporting teachers and staff; safe and welcoming schools; safety, awareness, and responsibility in the schools; and finally, parental and community involvement.
“I will listen, ask hard questions, and hold the district accountable,” he states on his website. “I will lead with transparency, fairness, and a focus on putting students first in every decision.”
GMCS DISTRICT 4
Mortensen is the only board member not seeking reelection. Board member Priscilla Benally broke the news of Mortensen’s plan to move from the area during the Aug. 11 board meeting, asking the board to begin discussing a plan of action in anticipation of Mortensen’s absence.
Mortensen has served on the board for the past nine years and has been the board’s President for the past three years.
There are two candidates in the school board election for District 4. Martin O’Malley and Barbara Colaianni-Wagner.
O’Malley, the current general manager of Gallup Land Partners, lists four key points in his platform, which can be found on his campaign’s Facebook page. He wants to align education with Gallup’s future, which means identifying workforce needs to prepare students for careers in Gallup; working on teacher recruitment and retention; decrease the district’s litigation; prioritize the new vocational technical high school; and finally, support real and meaningful intervention strategies to continue to raise test scores.
On her Facebook page, Colaianni-Wagner states that she’s running for the school board position because she believes parents should have a say in their children’s education; teachers deserve the support they need to help every student succeed; and schools should focus on equipping kids with skills for life.
GMCS DISTRICT 5
Dr. Valory Wangler and Angela Benally are running against Schaaf in District 5.
Wangler listed five core priorities on her website, and then broke down the specifics on them.
She wants to “reform the board.” According to her website, that means moving meeting times to make them more accessible for families, teachers, and community members; allowing open public comment; and transparent decision-making.
Another point on Wangler’s website is “helping every student thrive.” She lists four bullet points under this objective: equitable access to resources; support for every learning style; reduced barriers to learning; and fair and equitable discipline.
The third core priority on Wangler’s list is “valuing student, parent, and teacher voices.” This means she wants to listen to teachers; work with, not against MCFUSE; prioritize student perspectives; partner with parents; and finally, “respect all.”
The fourth core priority is “Let teachers teach.” Wangler wants to reduce unnecessary paperwork, trust professional expertise, and ensure resources reach classrooms.
Finally, Wangler lists “Less testing, more learning” as her fifth priority. She wants to limit testing to what’s useful, protect instructional time, and measure success in multiple ways.
During an Oct. 22 public candidate forum, Benally shared that if she were elected, she would want to focus on advocating for GMCS students. She said she would make sure the school board was transparent and held accountable.
In an interview with the Sun, Schaaf said he wants to see the growth he’s been working on continue in his second term. He specially mentioned the technical high school construction and the fact that the district received about $24 million in impact aid during his term.
“During my term for the schools we got the impact aid, which gives around $24 million a year to our students who have been deprived of it for a number of years,” he said. “It was taken from us and given to other parts of the state, and that belongs to our students. But we were able to accomplish it where we are now getting some impact aid.”
The city will hold primary elections on Nov. 4. The winner will take office on Jan. 26.
To locate your polling place for the upcoming election, visit the Secretary of State’s website at https://www.sos.nm.gov/voting-and-elections/.
