A former Los Lunas Board of Education member has been named as the public education secretary’s first designee to assume temporary governance of the Los Lunas Schools district.

New Mexico Public Education Secretary Ryan Stewart announced Sonya C’Moya as his first designee today, Friday, May 28, in a press release.

Sonya C’Moya
Appointed to Los Lunas Board of Education

In the same press release, Stewart called for applications for additional designees for the other four districts. C’Moya will represent District 2.

On Wednesday, May 26, Stewart indefinitely suspended the district’s five-member elected board due to what PED described as “credible evidence” that certain board members have persistently violated procurement and public access laws, the state Public School Code and professional ethical standards.

During the suspension, Superintendent Arsenio Romero will report directly to Stewart until such time as the secretary could delegate that responsibility. Stewart indicated he will delegate governance to a newly appointed group of Los Lunas residents, including C’Moya.

C’Moya served on the Los Lunas Schools Board of Education from 2015 through 2019, including two years as vice president and one year as secretary.

She also spent four years on the district’s finance committee, including two years as chair, and she is currently a community representative to the board’s audit committee.

“Ms. C’Moya’s experience and her deep knowledge about the workings of the Los Lunas district will make her a steadying influence during this transitional time,” Stewart said.

“When I chose not to run for re-election to the school board in 2019, I never intended to turn my back on the Los Lunas School District,” Ms. C’Moya said. “I’m very interested in restoring the credibility and function of the district and working again with its wonderful staff and students.”

The secretary intends to name additional designees, and is requesting letters of interest from those who meet the following qualifications:

•Live within the boundaries of the Los Lunas School District;

•Be able to devote the time necessary to serve as a designee and to participate in required trainings;

•Be committed to making decisions in the best interest of the students of Los Lunas;

•Be committed to the responsible stewardship of public resources with the highest degree of integrity;

•Be a collaborative member of a team, able and willing to engage with others in a professional and performance-focused manner;

•Have no felony convictions.

Anyone meeting those qualifications who wishes to be considered should submit a letter of interest of up to 250 words and a resume via email to [email protected] by 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 8.

Letters of interest must include:

•The applicant’s address;

•Which school board district the applicant lives in;

•The names and contact information for up to three professional references;

•Whether the applicant has a child/children currently in the district and, if so, the school(s) they attend.

Applicants are asked to use the following naming convention for files:

•FirstName_LastName_Resume (example: John_Doe_Resume)

•FirstName_LastName_LetterOfInterest (example: Jane_Smith_LetterOfInterest)

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The Valencia County News-Bulletin is a locally owned and operated community newspaper, dedicated to serving Valencia County since 1910 through the highest journalistic and professional business standards. The VCNB is published weekly on Thursdays, including holidays both in print and online.