Settlement reached in Bernalillo school abuse lawsuit involving teacher, administrators

A settlement has ended a Bernalillo school abuse lawsuit, but the public still does not know what the district agreed to, what money, if any, changed hands, or whether Bernalillo Public Schools changed its safeguards for students.

The case was filed Jan. 27 in U.S. District Court for New Mexico against Bernalillo Public Schools teacher Melanie Jean Martinez and two administrators. It centers on allegations that Martinez abused a 10-year-old student during the 2022-23 school year at Bernalillo Elementary School, where Martinez worked as a fifth-grade teacher from 2018 to 2023.

The complaint describes physical and verbal abuse that included grabbing the child by the wrist and neck, throwing books at her and denying restroom access. It says Martinez told the girl to “suck it up with a straw” after she urinated at her desk. The lawsuit also alleges Martinez called the child “disgusting,” “stupid” and “different,” and made racist remarks tied to the student’s family background, including saying she came from an “idiot family.”

The lawsuit goes beyond one classroom. It says school officials had been warned about Martinez before the alleged abuse at Bernalillo Elementary, including disciplinary history at Española Public Schools and a September 2017 warning letter that cited “social isolation, threatening, intimidation and emotional abuse of students.” Other allegations say the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department contacted the school in 2021 over claims Martinez threatened to “string students up from the window,” and that a district investigation found a student confirming those threats. The complaint also says a principal sought to remove another student from Martinez’s class because of bullying.

By March 2022, Martinez allegedly wrote to district officials that she needed help with “communicating with students positively.” Even so, the complaint says Bernalillo renewed her contract for the 2022-23 school year. The family also alleges retaliation after reporting the abuse, including moving the girl’s mother farther from her daughter’s classroom and later requiring her to transfer to another school.

Attorney Kelly Stout Sanchez said the case shows the harm children endure from racial discrimination in schools and said she hoped the district would evaluate its practices so no other child suffers a similar experience. Attorney Julio Romero said the child continues to suffer the effects of the alleged abuse and stressed how lasting such trauma can be for a 10-year-old. A judge later acknowledged the parties had resolved all controversies and issues, but the settlement terms remain undisclosed.