Gallup-McKinley County Schools

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Gallup-McKinley County Schools (GMCS) is a school district based in Gallup, New Mexico which serves students from Gallup and surrounding areas of McKinley County.

Service area[]

The district serves all of McKinley County except for sections in the Zuni Reservation.[1]

In addition to sections of McKinley County, the district also serves the Ramah Navajo Indian Reservation, including Pinehill, which is in Cibola County. The proximity of the nearest schools in Cibola County were so far, 50 miles (80 km) away, that Cibola and McKinley counties agreed to have students on the reservation sent to McKinley County schools.[2] The reservation is physically within the Grants/Cibola County Schools district.[3]

It has 4,857 square miles (12,580 km2) of territory, making it the largest NM school district by area.[4]

Previously the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) operated Manuelito Hall in Gallup, a dormitory which housed Native American students attending Gallup-McKinley schools. In 1973 it had about 300 students. That year the BIA closed Manuelito Hall, planning to move students to various boarding schools. The public school system's funding was not anticipated to be harmed by this closure. There were some families that wanted their children to remain at Gallup-McKinley schools as they perceived them to be better than BIA schools.[5]

Demographics[]

In 1995 most of the students were Navajo (Diné) people, including those from the larger Navajo reservation and about 80 from the Ramah Navajo reservation.[6]

Schools[]

Middle and high schools[]

  • , Navajo
  • , Ramah
    • This school serves the Ramah Navajo Indian Reservation as part of the intercounty agreement.[2] In 1954 a dormitory opened in Ramah, which allowed the majority of residents of the reservation to attend public schools close to their residences.[2] In 1968 the district closed Ramah High and the dormitories became elementary only, which meant Ramah Navajo once again had to board at faraway Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) boarding schools. After legal battles and advocacy, the Ramah Navajo opened the Ramah Navajo High School in the former Ramah High School, now leased. The lease at that location ended in 1975, so the school moved to Pine Hill and became Pine Hill Schools.[7] In 1983 Ramah High reopened.[2]
  • , Thoreau
  • , Tohatchi

High schools[]

Middle schools[]

  • Chief Manuelito Middle School, Gallup
  • Crownpoint Middle School, Crownpoint
  • Gallup Middle School, Gallup
  • John F. Kennedy Middle School, Gallup
  • Thoreau Middle School, Thoreau
  • Tohatchi Middle School, Tohatchi

Elementary schools[]

  • Chee Dodge Elementary School
  • Crownpoint Elementary School
  • Del Norte Elementary School
  • Indian Hills Elementary School
  • Jefferson Elementary School
  • Lincoln Elementary School
  • Catherine A. Miller Elementary School
  • Navajo Elementary School
  • Ramah Elementary School
    • This school serves the Ramah Navajo Indian Reservation as part of the intercounty agreement.[2] In 1954 a dormitory opened in Ramah, which allowed the majority of residents of the reservation to attend public schools close to their residences.[2]
  • Red Rock Elementary School
  • Rocky View Elementary School
  • Roosevelt Elementary School
  • David Skeet Elementary School
  • Stagecoach Elementary School
  • Thoreau Elementary School
  • Tobe Turpen Elementary School
  • Tohatchi Elementary School
  • Twin Lakes Elementary School

Transportation[]

In Summer 1994 the Ramah tribal government and the governments of Cibola County and McKinley County agreed to have two bus stops on the Ramah Navajo reservation, with one at the chapter house and another at a point to the south; this was approved by , the New Mexico State Superintendent of Education. Area parents disliked the new bus stops, saying they had hazards and that they lacked the necessary space. Morgan approved establishing the bus stops deeper into the reservation, adjacent to the tribal Pine Hill Schools and at the housing complex, and these stops began operation in December 1994.[2] In January 1995 the Ramah Navajo chapter and the associated Ramah Navajo School Board, which operates Pine Hill Schools, sued the New Mexico Public Education Department and the Gallup McKinley County Schools arguing that the defendants breached the tribe's sovereignty by allowing the school district to extend school bus services further into the tribal grounds and therefore taking students who would have attended Pine Hill Schools and violating the previous agreement between the tribe and the counties.[6]

References[]

  1. ^ "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: McKinley County, NM" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Linthicum, Leslie (1995-03-06). "Navajos Say County Is Stealing Students". Albuquerque Journal. Albuquerque, New Mexico. pp. A1, A3. - Clipping of first and of second page at Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Cibola County, NM" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
  4. ^ "About GCMS". Gallup-McKinley County Schools. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
  5. ^ "BIA Closes Manuelito Hall". Gallup, New Mexico: The Gallup Independent. 1973-04-14. pp. 1, 6. - Clipping of first and of second page at Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Obsatz, Sharyn (1995-01-10). "Navajos sue over student numbers". The Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. p. 1B. - Clipping from Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "RNSB History". Ramah Navajo School Board. Retrieved 2021-07-20.

External links[]

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