Submitted by David C. Nuckols, EVCA teacher, and Craig Springer, parent.
Enrollment at Estancia Valley Classical Academy in Edgewood, a public charter school, has drastically declined. So has state funding. Five teachers were recently put out of a job and two went part-time. All seven volunteered for the personnel action. Slapdash signs in front of the school advertising the need for students signal a predictable and preventable concern.
EVCA struggles with a self-inflicted governance problem; nothing says you have something to hide like hiding something. We write out of civic duty and enduring concerns for education, free speech, and transparency in government.
Hillsdale College, the nation’s leader in classical education, planted EVCA as a Member Charter School in our community over a decade ago. EVCA’s local founders praised the Member School alliance—the first among many such schools in 33 states—as a godsend to robustly educate our children on intellectual and moral character and civic virtue.
The alliance provided at no cost, lesson resources for teachers and students; onsite training for teachers, the governing council, and executive director; easy access to master teachers for guidance; a pipeline to employ classically trained teachers; classroom observation by college staff; and professional marketing and public relations—all this as a means to recruit, retain, and educate students.
Then something suspicious happened.
Without a public notice or a hearing, EVCA’s governing council in near secrecy abandoned the Member School relationship. There was no debate among council members or with the polity served by the council—the parents—nor was there input sought from teachers charged with delivering a classical education.
Then council evaded answering a cardinal question: why?
Parents phoned and emailed Hillsdale College staff seeking to uncover the obfuscation, learning that the council would not adhere to the rules expected of Member Schools.
These include, quoting a document provided to us from the college:
“Board Member Term Limitation Policy. The term limitation policy ensures the regular turnover of all Board Members in a judicious fashion, especially providing for the turnover of founding members and the efficient transition of the Board from founding efforts of the school to long-term governance board membership.”
“Succession Plan. The Board has a written and/or executed succession plan outlining the transition of the Board from its founding membership and activity to that of long-term governance and strategy.”
Rebecca Lincoln, Director of Teacher Support for Hillsdale College’s charter schools, wrote: “Specifically, our Office had recommended term limits for Governing Council members; a commitment to limiting Governing Council involvement to governing rather than day-to-day presence or management; and a policy governing staff-board communications.”
The council issued a vacuous letter to parents that offered no substantive reasoning but promised: “Given that there appears to be a disparity in the way two NM Hillsdale Charter schools are operating, the Governing Council will investigate the disparities to see if there are actual differences in treatment by Hillsdale.”
That promise refers to Hozho Academy, a thriving Hillsdale Member School in Gallup. Repeated requests for the council’s findings and an inspection of public records revealed the council conducted no investigation.
It appears there is something to hide.
The council professes to take America’s founding principles seriously but it owns a totalitarian impulse. It is composed of unelected officials who govern without the consent of the people. It operates as a private club over a public school funded by taxpayers. Its members serve by invitations that come from current council members making it fecund for cronyism. The council recently attempted to seat an associate with a public history of sexual harassment in his capacity as a state official. He cost taxpayers $1.1 million in settlements and a jury award. The invitation was withdrawn when a female EVCA staff member raised a concern.
By rejecting Hillsdale’s rules for Member Schools, the council is scarcely accountable to anyone.
Some council members have been unable to hide their contempt for parents and teachers who disagree with their deeds, treating them more as subjects than citizens. Parent surveys addressing governance bear that out. The school asked teachers to come forward if they “fear retribution” from the council.
A council member mocked parents and another council member’s spouse confronted dissident speakers all with no apparent repudiation from the presiding officer, chilling speech. The council is unfriendly to the most sacred American principle; four members were sued in U.S. District Court for violating First Amendment rights, costing the school a large amount of money. EVCA issued an all-employee memo prohibiting teachers from speaking freely about the suit.
Enrollment has dropped, approaching 20 percent, and it stands to get worse as East Mountain High School expands into middle school grades in 2026. Brace for more layoffs.
The lust for power exceeds the virtue needed for proper self-governance. The insular council suffers from Founder’s Syndrome—an organizational dysfunction rooted in founders’ autocratic and excessive control, and resistance to leadership changes. For example the current council president, a founder, resides three hours away well beyond the community served by the school.
The council is obliged to embrace the rules expected of Hillsdale Member Schools lest EVCA become a brittle husk of its former self. The founders must vacate their seats. Establish term limits; ensure independence among council members; respect privacy demanded by FERPA to avoid costly tort claims; enforce a code of ethics; stay out of the classroom and not intimidate teachers; let the executive director exercise duties delegated by law only to her. Cancel the speech-prohibiting all-employee directive.
Moral clarity is not difficult. New Mexico ranks 50th in the nation in education. Restore trust, and return EVCA to its original promise that was quietly abandoned. The flames sparked by EVCA’s heroic founding should not be extinguished by a failing self-serving despotism.
