APS board approves broad governance manual amendments after hours of debate over tribal consultation, legal access and mediation

The Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education on Feb. 5 adopted an amended governance manual after a protracted review, multiple proposed edits and several recorded roll-call votes that addressed tribal consultation, access to legal counsel, and dispute-resolution procedures for board members.

Presenters from the governance ad hoc committee, Board Secretary Janelle Astorga and Vice President Courtney Jackson, guided the board section-by-section through more than a dozen proposed changes. After hours of discussion and a sequence of motions, the board voted to accept the proposed edits and minor legal language changes. The final motion to adopt the amendments as discussed passed on a roll-call vote.

Several individual amendments drew extended debate. Board members voted to retain a reference to Executive Order 13175 (federal tribal consultation) in the governance manual's section on board responsibilities while moving a mention of the Federal Indian Education Act to the manual's addendum; the board then recorded a separate vote to adopt the overall set of changes. Legal counsel on staff…