Los Lunas schools settle years-long free-speech fight over parent page
Los Lunas Schools paid $145,000 to end a fight over a parent Facebook page that reached the 10th Circuit and still has more than 4,000 members.
Los Lunas Schools agreed to pay $145,000 to end a years-long fight over a private parent Facebook page that families used to discuss classrooms, district issues and school board races. The settlement was formalized by a federal court on June 26, closing a case that had already reached the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.
The page, called the Los Lunas School District Parent Discussion Page, was founded in 2010 and has been administered by Rowena Tachias and Monique Dereta since 2011. Tachias and Dereta created it for parents and community members to talk about what was happening in the district, including school board candidates and other issues affecting Los Lunas families.
The conflict escalated in 2018 after a parent used the page to report that a school principal had threatened a student. Days later, then-superintendent Dana Sanders began pursuing a trademark for Los Lunas Schools and privately referred to the page as the Haters page with school board members. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted the LOS LUNAS SCHOOLS trademark on July 9, 2019.
After that, the district sent a cease-and-desist letter accusing the page operators of unauthorized use of the trademark for criticizing the district and sharing false information. The parents sued in 2021, arguing the district had crossed a First Amendment line and retaliated against protected speech.
The case moved through the federal courts and produced a published 10th Circuit opinion in Tachias v. Sanders on March 10, 2025. The district agreed to settle on April 24, 2026. Matthew Beck, the parents' attorney, called the result a warning to public entities that try to limit online criticism, while Leon Howard, executive director of the ACLU of New Mexico, said the First Amendment protects people’s right to speak up and criticize those in power.
The Facebook group remains active and now has more than 4,000 members. Los Lunas Schools had not responded to a request for comment by June 30.
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