APS names former Los Lunas athletic director to top high schools job
APS tapped Wilson Holland for a top high schools post days after a Los Lunas audit tied him to unpaid leave and possible overpayment on 12 basketball trips.
Albuquerque Public Schools named Wilson Holland, the former athletic director at Los Lunas Schools, as assistant superintendent of high schools even as a special audit tied his name to questions over leave, travel time and pay in Valencia County.
On July 1, Albuquerque Public Schools said it was finalizing administrative assignments for the 2026-27 school year and would keep making hires before classes start. Holland went through the district’s normal hiring and vetting process, cleared a required background check and is fully licensed for the job. APS, which serves about 65,000 students across more than 140 schools, said its focus is on leadership and student outcomes.
Holland’s move lifts him into one of the state’s largest education systems after a Los Lunas audit found he officiated 12 out-of-state NCAA Division I basketball games without taking leave from his district job. Auditors said the travel time needed for those games made it impossible for him to have worked a full day on those occasions. The audit found Holland earned $22,921 in officiating fees and may have been overpaid by as much as $5,854 because of the leave issue.
The audit also said a district vehicle assigned to Holland had a broken GPS, a problem that came to light only after a board member questioned his whereabouts. Holland told the Journal he had done nothing fraudulent and said he had always been transparent with supervisors about his officiating work.
The broader special audit covered July 1, 2023 through May 31, 2025. It was triggered by a letter of concern from the New Mexico Public Education Department and conducted by Jaramillo Accounting Group LLC as a special audit consulting engagement under the state auditor’s authority.
Los Lunas board members formally accepted the 97-page report on May 20. The report identified stipend overpayments, alleged time-and-leave fraud, legal-services procurement problems and Open Meetings Act violations.
The same report also drew scrutiny to former deputy superintendent and state Rep. Brian Baca, who auditors said was improperly paid $11,365 in sick leave during legislative sessions and whose wife was paid $64,500 in stipends for work she was not properly licensed to hold. Baca left Los Lunas Schools at the end of June 2025 and said he believed the facts would show he acted in good faith and with approvals.
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