Gallup-McKinley County Schools, New Mexico, elections
| Gallup-McKinley County Schools |
|---|
 |
| District details |
| School board members: 5 |
| Students: 12,439 (2023-2024) |
| Schools: 33 (2023-2024) |
| Website: Link |
Gallup-McKinley County Schools is a school district in New Mexico (McKinley County). During the 2024 school year, 12,439 students attended one of the district's 33 schools.
This page provides information regarding school board members, election rules, finances, academics, policies, and more details about the district.
Elections
Do you know of an individual or group that endorsed a candidate for a position on this board? Click here to let us know.
Gallup-McKinley County Schools school board District 2
General election
General election for Gallup-McKinley County Schools school board District 2
Georgianna Desiderio, Freda E. Joe, Charles Long, and Titus J. Nez ran in the general election for Gallup-McKinley County Schools school board District 2 on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | ||
| Georgianna Desiderio (Nonpartisan) | ||
Freda E. Joe (Nonpartisan)  | ||
| Charles Long (Nonpartisan) | ||
| Titus J. Nez (Nonpartisan) | ||
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Gallup-McKinley County Schools school board District 4
General election
General election for Gallup-McKinley County Schools school board District 4
Barbara Amalia Colaianni-Wagner and Martin J. O'Malley ran in the general election for Gallup-McKinley County Schools school board District 4 on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | ||
| Barbara Amalia Colaianni-Wagner (Nonpartisan) | ||
| Martin J. O'Malley (Nonpartisan) | ||
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Gallup-McKinley County Schools school board District 5
General election
General election for Gallup-McKinley County Schools school board District 5
Angela Benally, Michael W. Schaaf, and Valory E. Wangler ran in the general election for Gallup-McKinley County Schools school board District 5 on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | ||
| Angela Benally (Nonpartisan) | ||
| Michael W. Schaaf (Nonpartisan) | ||
| Valory E. Wangler (Nonpartisan) | ||
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Gallup-McKinley County Schools school board District 2
General election
General election for Gallup-McKinley County Schools school board District 2
Incumbent Charles Long won election in the general election for Gallup-McKinley County Schools school board District 2 on February 7, 2017.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | Charles Long (Nonpartisan) | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Gallup-McKinley County Schools school board District 4
General election
General election for Gallup-McKinley County Schools school board District 4
Incumbent Christopher Mortensen won election in the general election for Gallup-McKinley County Schools school board District 4 on February 7, 2017.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | Christopher Mortensen (Nonpartisan) | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Gallup-McKinley County Schools school board District 5
General election
General election for Gallup-McKinley County Schools school board District 5
Incumbent Michael Schaaf won election in the general election for Gallup-McKinley County Schools school board District 5 on February 7, 2017.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | Michael Schaaf (Nonpartisan) | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Gallup-McKinley County Schools Board of Education District 1
General election
General election for Gallup-McKinley County Schools Board of Education District 1
Incumbent Kevin Mitchell won election in the general election for Gallup-McKinley County Schools Board of Education District 1 on June 7, 2016.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ |  | Kevin Mitchell (Nonpartisan) |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Gallup-McKinley County Schools Board of Education District 3
General election
General election for Gallup-McKinley County Schools Board of Education District 3
Incumbent Priscilla B. Manuelito won election in the general election for Gallup-McKinley County Schools Board of Education District 3 on February 3, 2015.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ |  | Priscilla B. Manuelito (Nonpartisan) |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Election rules
Election dates and frequency
School board general elections in New Mexico are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, every two years in odd-numbered years.
See law: New Mexico Statute Section 1-22-3
Below are the recent/upcoming dates for all public school districts in the state. There may be exceptions to these dates for specific districts because of local charters and district-specific exceptions and carve-outs.
- Filing deadline date: August 26, 2025
- General election date: November 4, 2025
Election system
School board members in New Mexico are elected through nonpartisan general elections without primaries.
See law: New Mexico Statute Section 1-22-3
Party labels on the ballot
School board elections in New Mexico are nonpartisan, which means party labels do not appear on the ballot for school board candidates. New Mexico Statute Section 1-22-3(B) states, "A regular local election shall be a nonpartisan election, and the names of all candidates shall be listed on the ballot with no party or slate designation."
See law: New Mexico Statute Section 1-22-3
Winning an election
The school board candidate that receives the largest number of votes in the general election is elected to office.
See law: New Mexico Constitution Article VII Section 5
Term length and staggering
School board members have four-year terms.
See law: New Mexico Statute 22-5-8
School districts elect as close as to half of their school board members as possible at one general election, and the other half at a general election two years later. Upon the formation of a newly created, three school board members will be elected for two-year terms and the other two school board members will be elected for four-year terms to ensure staggered elections. Albuquerque School District is the only district with seven board members, and elects four school board members at one general election and the other three school board members two years later.
See law: New Mexico Statute 22-4-13
Representation: at large vs. by sub-district
School board members are elected either at large or from single-member election subdistricts, depending on the size of the school district. As of 2022, 28 districts (31%) had board members elected by single-member district and 61 districts (69%) had board members elected by at-large.
School board members in districts having a population in excess of 16,000 must be elected from single-member subdistricts.
School boards in districts with less than 16,000 population have the option of establishing single-member board subdistricts or continuing to elect members at large.
See law: New Mexico Statute 22-5-1.1 & New Mexico School Boards Association Handbook Chapter II Section A
Filing deadlines and swearing-in dates
School board candidates must file declarations of candidacy by 5:00 PM on the 70th day prior to the election.
See law: New Mexico Statute 1-22-7
School board candidates can file between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM on the 70th day prior to the election.
See law: New Mexico Statute 1-22-7
Newly elected school board members officially take office on the first day of January following their election.
See law: New Mexico Statute 1-2-18
About the district
School board
Gallup-McKinley County Schools consists of five members serving four-year terms. To find information about school board meetings, click here.
| Name | Seat | Year assumed office | Year term ends |
|---|---|---|---|
| Priscilla Benally | District 3 | 2015 | 2027 |
| Kevin Mitchell | District 1 | 2011 | 2027 |
| Charles Long | District 2 | 2017 | 2025 |
| Christopher Mortensen | District 4 | 2017 | 2025 |
| Michael Schaaf | District 5 | 2017 | 2025 |
Join the conversation about school board politics
Unlock the full dataset for your own use cases — explore subscription options to our comprehensive list of all school board members in the country.
District map
Overlapping state house districts
The table was limited to the lower chamber because it provides the most granularity. State house districts tend to be more numerous and therefore smaller than state senate or U.S. House districts. This provides an impression of the partisan affiliations in the area.
Budget
The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[1]
| SOURCE | AMOUNT | AMOUNT PER STUDENT | PERCENT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal: | $122,303,000 | $10,156 | 45% |
| Local: | $10,490,000 | $871 | 4% |
| State: | $136,962,000 | $11,373 | 51% |
| Total: | $269,755,000 | $22,399 |
| TYPE | AMOUNT | AMOUNT PER STUDENT | PERCENT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Expenditures: | $213,643,000 | $17,740 | |
| Total Current Expenditures: | $193,336,000 | $16,053 | |
| Instructional Expenditures: | $118,938,000 | $9,876 | 56% |
| Student and Staff Support: | $18,742,000 | $1,556 | 9% |
| Administration: | $18,403,000 | $1,528 | 9% |
| Operations, Food Service, Other: | $37,253,000 | $3,093 | 17% |
| Total Capital Outlay: | $19,401,000 | $1,610 | |
| Construction: | $16,179,000 | $1,343 | |
| Total Non El-Sec Education & Other: | $27,000 | $2 | |
| Interest on Debt: | $879,000 | $72 |
Academic performance
Each year, state and local education agencies use tests and other standards to assess student proficiency. Although the data below was published by the U.S. Department of Education, proficiency measurements are established by the states. As a result, proficiency levels are not comparable between different states and year-over-year proficiency levels within a district may not be comparable because states may change their proficiency measurements. To protect student privacy, percentages are reported as ranges for groups of 300 students or fewer. If five or fewer students were included in a data set, the data will display as "PS."[2]
The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:
| School year | All (%) | Asian/Pacific Islander (%) | Black (%) | Hispanic (%) | Native American (%) | Two or More Races (%) | White (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-2022 | 18 | 45-49 | 23 | 15 | 20-24 | 38 | |
| 2020-2021 | 10-14 | PS | <50 | <=10 | PS | PS | |
| 2018-2019 | 17 | 60-64 | 21-39 | 26 | 13 | 44 | |
| 2016-2017 | 13 | 55-59 | <=20 | 19 | 11 | 34 | |
| 2015-2016 | 13 | 55-59 | <=20 | 20 | 10 | 30 | |
| 2014-2015 | 10 | 50-54 | <=20 | 14 | 7 | 26 | |
| 2013-2014 | 27 | 75-79 | 21-39 | 37 | 23 | 55-59 | |
| 2012-2013 | 33 | 80-84 | 21-39 | 44 | 28 | 64 | |
| 2011-2012 | 33 | 80-89 | 40-59 | 43 | 28 | 64 | |
| 2010-2011 | 31 | 65-69 | 21-39 | 40 | 26 | 64 |
The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:
| School year | All (%) | Asian/Pacific Islander (%) | Black (%) | Hispanic (%) | Native American (%) | Two or More Races (%) | White (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-2022 | 22 | 45-49 | 35 | 17 | 30-34 | 46 | |
| 2020-2021 | 30-34 | PS | <50 | 20-29 | PS | PS | |
| 2018-2019 | 30 | 80-84 | 21-39 | 43 | 26 | 55 | |
| 2016-2017 | 21 | 60-64 | 20-29 | 32 | 17 | 50 | |
| 2015-2016 | 18 | 70-74 | 21-39 | 25 | 15 | 43 | |
| 2014-2015 | 15 | 65-69 | 21-39 | 23 | 11 | 43 | |
| 2013-2014 | 28 | 65-69 | 40-59 | 42 | 23 | 60-64 | |
| 2012-2013 | 33 | 80-84 | <=20 | 47 | 28 | 65 | |
| 2011-2012 | 33 | 70-79 | 40-59 | 46 | 27 | 68 | |
| 2010-2011 | 35 | 70-74 | 40-59 | 48 | 29 | 68 |
The following table shows the graduation rate of district students each school year:
| School year | All (%) | Asian/Pacific Islander (%) | Black (%) | Hispanic (%) | Native American (%) | Two or More Races (%) | White (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-2021 | 77 | >=50 | >=50 | 80-84 | 75 | 80-89 | |
| 2019-2020 | 79 | >=50 | PS | 80-84 | 77 | >=90 | |
| 2018-2019 | 77 | >=80 | PS | 80-84 | 75 | >=90 | |
| 2017-2018 | 73 | >=50 | >=50 | 75-79 | 72 | 80-89 | |
| 2016-2017 | 67 | >=50 | >=50 | 75-79 | 65 | 60-69 | |
| 2015-2016 | 65 | >=50 | PS | 65-69 | 64 | 80-89 | |
| 2014-2015 | 67 | >=50 | 70-74 | 65 | 70-79 | ||
| 2013-2014 | 65 | >=50 | PS | 70-74 | 63 | 70-79 | |
| 2012-2013 | 71 | >=50 | PS | 75-79 | 69 | 80-89 | |
| 2011-2012 | 69 | >=50 | PS | 75-79 | 67 | 80-89 | |
| 2010-2011 | 66 | >=50 | PS | 75-79 | 63 | 80-89 |
Students
The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[3]
| Year | Enrollment | Year-to-year change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-2024 | 12,439 | 1.7 |
| 2022-2023 | 12,224 | 1.5 |
| 2021-2022 | 12,043 | -2.0 |
| 2020-2021 | 12,281 | 9.4 |
| 2019-2020 | 11,129 | -1.3 |
| 2018-2019 | 11,279 | -2.1 |
| 2017-2018 | 11,512 | 0.0 |
| 2016-2017 | 11,507 | -1.6 |
| 2015-2016 | 11,686 | -1.9 |
| 2014-2015 | 11,907 | -0.3 |
| 2013-2014 | 11,947 | -0.7 |
| 2012-2013 | 12,033 | -2.0 |
| 2011-2012 | 12,271 | -0.4 |
| 2010-2011 | 12,314 | -1.5 |
| 2009-2010 | 12,495 | -1.0 |
| 2008-2009 | 12,620 | 2.7 |
| 2007-2008 | 12,280 | -1.0 |
| 2006-2007 | 12,402 | -4.4 |
| 2005-2006 | 12,953 | -1.8 |
| 2004-2005 | 13,191 | -3.3 |
| 2003-2004 | 13,620 | 0.0 |
| 2002-2003 | 13,618 | -1.6 |
| 2001-2002 | 13,840 | -0.9 |
| 2000-2001 | 13,962 | -0.5 |
| 1999-2000 | 14,036 | 0.0 |
| RACE | Gallup-McKinley County Schools (%) | New Mexico K-12 STUDENTS (%) |
|---|---|---|
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 68.1 | 10.2 |
| Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander | 1.0 | 1.3 |
| Black | 1.0 | 1.8 |
| Hispanic | 20.3 | 63.6 |
| Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| Two or More Races | 1.6 | 2.4 |
| White | 7.8 | 20.7 |
Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Staff
The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[4]
As of the 2023-2024 school year, Gallup-McKinley County Schools had 707.20 full-time classroom teachers. The student-teacher ratio was 17.59.
| TYPE | NUMBER OF TEACHERS |
|---|---|
| Prekindergarten: | 13.09 |
| Kindergarten: | 62.91 |
| Elementary: | 209.00 |
| Secondary: | 297.60 |
| Total: | 707.20 |
Gallup-McKinley County Schools employed 1.00 district administrators and 37.00 school administrators as of the 2023-2024 school year.
| TYPE | NUMBER OF ADMINISTRATORS |
|---|---|
| District Administrators: | 1.00 |
| District Administrative Support: | 0.00 |
| School Administrators: | 37.00 |
| School Administrative Support: | 83.00 |
| TYPE | NUMBER OF OTHER STAFF |
|---|---|
| Instructional Aides: | 188.25 |
| Instruc. Coordinators & Supervisors: | 2.00 |
| Total Guidance Counselors: | 19.50 |
| Elementary Guidance Counselors: | 8.00 |
| Secondary Guidance Counselors: | 11.50 |
| Librarians/Media Specialists: | 1.00 |
| Library/Media Support: | 0.00 |
| Student Support Services: | 97.70 |
| Other Support Services: | 140.00 |
Schools
The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[5]
About school boards
Education legislation in New Mexico
Bills are monitored by BillTrack50 and sorted by action history.
See also
| School Boards | Education Policy | Local Politics | New Mexico |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
 |
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC: EDFacts, "State Assessments in Reading/Language Arts and Mathematics- School Year 2021-22 EDFacts Data Documentation," accessed October 18, 2025
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
| |||||
