Gallup-McKinley School Board and Stride/K12 Reinstate Modified Contract Through June 30, 2026

Gallup‑McKinley County Schools announced March 2, 2026 that it has satisfactorily resolved a year‑long dispute with Stride, Inc., reinstating a modified contract with the company through June 30, 2026, dismissing with prejudice all complaints the district had filed and saying Stride has reciprocated. The district also voided a prior suspension of Stride/K12, terminated debarment proceedings it had commenced, and withdrew and retracted press releases dated May 16, May 23, Aug. 22 and Sept. 10, 2025.

School Board President Kevin Mitchell said the board “regret[s] that these disputes occurred” and called the settlement a chance to “turn the page on our relationship with K12,” adding that “our focus is where it should be, supporting students and helping families succeed.” The March 2 announcement also lays out a framework under which “the company will provide certain K12 tutoring services to District resident students.”

That settlement represents a reversal from the district’s May 23, 2025 action, when Gallup‑McKinley announced termination of its educational services contract with Stride effective June 30 and accused the company of “months of documented legal and academic violations, including failure to comply with New Mexico law on student‑teacher ratios, high student turnover, declining graduation rates, and some of the lowest academic proficiency scores in the state.” Then‑School Board President Chris Mortensen said at the time, “Our students deserve educational providers that prioritize their academic success, not corporate profit margins. Putting profits above kids was damaging to our students, and we refuse to be complicit in that failure any longer.”

After the May 23, 2025 termination vote, the school board unanimously approved the contract cancellation and authorized attorneys to pursue arbitration for damages. Stride sought a Temporary Restraining Order to block the termination; that TRO was rejected in an early morning hearing by the New Mexico District Court in Aztec, according to the district’s May 2025 statement.

The dispute had direct effects on families and funding. Education department secretary Mariana Padilla reported that the district’s cancellation displaced about 3,000 online students, and other districts absorbed those students while Gallup‑McKinley continued to draw state funding based on prior‑year enrollment. The secretary also referenced a $35 million shortfall in the public education agency’s budget during a budget request presentation that alerted lawmakers to the situation. Separately, Stride filed an ethics complaint in April 2025 alleging former Superintendent Mike Hyatt attempted to “leverage his position as superintendent to secure a lucrative job” with Stride, saying he applied for a vice president position requesting $235,000 annually; Hyatt later retired.

The March 2 statement specifies the reinstated arrangement is a “modified contract” and that Stride will provide certain K12 tutoring services to district resident students, but it does not include financial terms, performance metrics, or docket numbers for the legal claims dismissed with prejudice. The district also identified Becky Coppa, bcoppa@agenda-global.com, as a contact for the March 2 distribution.

The March 2 resolution formally undoes the district’s May 2025 suspension and debarment actions and withdraws four public releases that were issued during the dispute, leaving Gallup‑McKinley and Stride operating under the newly reinstated, limited agreement through June 30, 2026 and bringing a public legal chapter to a close.