The New Mexico Attorney General's office has released a 47-page report finding "substantial racial disparities" in disciplinary practices at Gallup-McKinley County Schools, with Indigenous and Hispanic students suspended more often and for longer periods than white classmates who commit similar infractions.
The investigation was ordered by state Attorney General Raúl Torrez in 2023 following reporting by New Mexico In Depth and ProPublica that exposed high rates of harsh punishment for Native and Hispanic children. The district, which straddles part of the Navajo Nation and has the largest Native American student population of any public school district in the country, accounts for at least three-quarters of Native student expulsions across New Mexico despite serving only a quarter of the state's Indigenous students.
What the Right Is Saying
Former Gallup-McKinley County Schools Superintendent Mike Hyatt called the initial reporting by New Mexico In Depth and ProPublica "completely false" when it was published, suggesting the findings resulted from the district's own data entry errors and its broad definition of expulsion. The state DOJ investigators wrote in their new report that neither explanation accounted for the racial disparities.
In 2023, after the news organizations published their reporting, the district provided a contract auditor with discipline data that was "inexplicably different" from what it reported to state and U.S. departments of Education, with thousands of disciplinary records missing. The AG report stated that investigators could not verify the district's assertions that it had dramatically reduced out-of-school suspensions.
The report also noted that former Superintendent Hyatt has retired and could not be reached for comment on the new findings.
What the Left Is Saying
Civil rights advocates and Democratic officials have praised the report as confirmation of systemic problems long documented by journalists and community members. The Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission released its own March 2026 report on discrimination at Gallup-McKinley schools, calling for similar reforms.
Wendy Greyeyes, chair of the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission, said neighboring districts already use restorative justice alternatives but noted that Gallup-McKinley may face challenges building trust with students and families. "These disparities are extreme and systemic," said Anjana Samant, a deputy director in the state Department of Justice and one of the report's authors.
The AG report recommends that district officials clearly define infractions and penalty ranges, make punishments proportional, limit suspensions, and adopt restorative justice practices such as talking circles where students discuss how their misbehavior impacted others. The report also calls on state lawmakers to strengthen oversight of student discipline statewide with annual public audits.
What the Numbers Show
According to the Department of Justice report, Indigenous students lose eight to 10 times more classroom days to suspensions than white students. Hispanic students lose three to four times as many classroom days compared to their white classmates who commit similar infractions.
The disparities were evident even in kindergarten and elementary grades, often for ambiguous infractions such as "disorderly conduct." The district is twice the size of Delaware geographically.
National research cited in the report links suspension and expulsion to lower academic achievement, higher risk of contact with the criminal justice system, isolation, poor health and lower wages. Investigators wrote that out-of-school suspensions also deny students access to free meals and participation in extracurricular clubs and volunteer activities.
The Bottom Line
The AG report calls on Gallup-McKinley officials to "acknowledge the facts" and work with the community "in remedying its excessive reliance on exclusionary and discriminatory discipline." Until the district fixes its policies, investigators wrote that children will remain negatively affected by educational, social and emotional challenges stemming from current practices.
Investigators also called for reforms at the state level, recommending that the New Mexico Public Education Department require regular audits of discipline data made public annually. The report urges lawmakers to strengthen oversight to prevent disparities from becoming as "extreme and systemic" elsewhere in the state.