PED warns charter school against religious teachings

MORIARTY, N.M. (KRQE) - A letter from the Public Department of Education says some parents have complained a new charter school in Moriarty is using taxpayer dollars to teach religion.

The letter was sent less than a month ago by Secretary-designate of Education Hanna Skandera, reminding school officials to follow state law.

“What we provide here is a rigorous academic alternative,” says Roger Lenard, president of the Estancia Valley Classical Academy (EVCA) Governing Council.

EVCA is a new K-10 state charter school in Moriarty.

About 300 students started there this September, but a PED letter suggests some families are already worried about what their kids are learning.

The state sent a letter telling the school it "must immediately cease using any biblical or religious-based curriculum and/or instructional activities, if it is indeed doing so."

PED gave the school an Oct. 15 deadline to respond.

Lenard says the school provides a classical education, not a Christian one.

“In classical education we teach Western traditions," he said.  "Necessarily, that includes religious history of the West. We leave matters of faith to families.”

Rumors are circulating some students had homework out of the Bible or were sent home with passages from the Bible.

“I cannot comment on that,” Lenard says. “I have no personal knowledge of that.”

Lenard says no one at the charter school has received the warning letter from PED, or even heard complaints from parents.

“If the parents had utilized the grievance policy and come to the administration first and discussed with the administration what their issue was, we could comment on it," he adds.

PED says another copy of the letter has been sent to the school, giving school officials another month to respond.

“When we get the letter we will treat it with the gravity that is accorded to it,” Lenard says.

A PED spokesperson says the department has agreed to extend the deadline, partly because complaints have stopped coming in.

The charter school's interim principal said in a statement that the school's curriculum was submitted to and approved by the New Mexico Education Department.