Local M.D. joins embattled CCSD board
By Erny Zah
Navajo Times
SHIPROCK, Oct. 24, 2011
(Courtesy photo)
Dr. Chad Wood, 38, of Kirtland, N.M., is sworn in as Central Consolidated School Board's newest member Tuesday during a meeting at Ojo Amarillo Elementary School. Wood's terms ends in February 2013.
Wood, 38, was one of six candidates who filed a letter of interest with Matt Tso, board president, and was approved by the board in a 3 -1 vote to complete Benally's term, which ends in February 2013.
Wood, a Kirtland, N.M., resident, will represent District 4, which includes Sheep Springs, T'iistoh Sikaad, Nenahnezad, Upper Fruitland and some parts of Kirtland.
A 2003 graduate of the University of Utah School of Medicine, Wood said he has been a physician at the Northern Navajo Medical Center for five years and is married to a Navajo. In addition, he has three children who attend school in CCSD.
"I consider my family to be Navajo," he said, adding that he is part Cherokee and has also worked at clinics for the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma.
In addition, he said for the past year and a half, he has helped create a mobile uranium clinic for Navajo uranium miners.
Wood said he understands the pressure CCSD is under due to ongoing controversies.
"I'm walking into a firestorm," he said.
For months, CCSD's school board has faced continued scrutiny from community members because of policy changes, office closures and personnel decisions that eventually brought it under investigation by the New Mexico Public Education Department.
Education Secretary Hanna Skandera was frank in telling the board that it needed to regain public trust, noting that if it could not assure that the district was being run with fairness and competence, the state agency might have no choice but to take over.
Wood does not feel his heavy workload as an M.D. will hinder his ability to take an active role on the school board.
"We're used to 80 hour work weeks," he said, referring to the hours he worked while completing his medical residency at the University of Oklahoma - Tulsa.
His primary goal would be to help schools make adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
According to the state's annual AYP report, none of CCSD's schools met AYP for the most recent school year, 2010-2011.
Wood added that another goal would be to improve and retain qualified teachers within the district and improve communications between the board and the community.
His selection left some applicants disgruntled. Before the board interviewed candidates, they eliminated three applicants because they didn't live within District 4 boundaries.
One of them was Alvin Allen.
He contends that he is a resident of Sheep Springs and has been living there for more than 30 years. Sheep Springs is within District 4.
"I think it was unfair - a cheap shot," he said.
According to board chairman Matt Tso, however, Allen and two other disqualified candidates, Delphine Mason and Gary Everett, have voter registration showing they live in other districts.
According to the San Juan County Clerk's Office, Allen is a District 5 voter and has been since June 2, 1998. But Allen said he ran for the District 4 seat several years ago and the county did not make an issue about his residency then.
According to county records, his mailing address is in Newcomb, N.M., which is in District 5.
Allen, who teaches construction science at Navajo Technical College in Crownpoint, said he shouldn't be penalized for choosing a post office that is more convenient for his work schedule, adding, "I'm pretty pissed off."
Tso said the state regulates exactly how a replacement board member is chosen, making it difficult to make exceptions for qualified candidates.
"I personally thought he was a top notch candidate," Tso said of Allen.
Applicants were interviewed by the board and were given seven minutes to address the board. Then they were asked three questions.
Tso asked candidates what they thought was the most pressing issue facing CCSD, and all mentioned controversy in the community.
"Race and religion," answered Randy Jensen. "That really has no place discussed at the power plant, the school district, or at any place of employment."
District spokesman James Preminger said administrators are "very excited" about the prospect of Dr. Wood joining the board.
Tso is as well.
"Dr. Wood possesses a very strong educational and professional background that will greatly add to our school board," he said. "As a district, we have many challenges facing us. We look forward to working with Dr. Wood to overcome those challenges."