Farmington Municipal Schools

The Board of Education interviewed three candidates for the open seat in District 1, approved an extension for Superintendent Cody Diehl’s contract, and celebrated a big achievement—McCormick Elementary’s Spanish Dual Language Program received the prestigious Bilingual Recognition Award in Santa Fe!

The Board met with three community members who applied for the vacant position: Mr. David Valencia, Mr. Jarrell DeGroat, and Mr. DeaZhan Maize. Each candidate discussed their reasons for serving our schools until the end of the year.

Mr. David Valencia is the CEO of Valencia Insulation and a leader with memberships in the Golden Key National Honor Society and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, among other leadership roles. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Accountancy from New Mexico State University. Additionally, Mr. Valencia is a proud alumnus of Farmington High School, Class of 1999.

Mr. Jarrell DeGroat currently works for Navajo Agricultural Products Industry (NAPI) and has been an active volunteer with Farmington Municipal Schools. He has served in various groups, including as Chairperson of the FMS Indian Education Committee (IEC). He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Fort Lewis College and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science from Colorado State University.

Mr. DeaZhan Maize is a Section Lead/Principle Test Engineer at Raytheon Company. He earned his degree in Electrical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and is a proud alumnus of Farmington High School, Class of 2000.

A final decision on filling the seat could be made during the Special Board Meeting on March 14.

Superintendent’s Contract

The Board approved a contract extension for Superintendent Cody Diehl. Originally set to run until the end of the 2027 academic year, his contract will now extend through 2028 with no other changes.

McCormick’s Dual Language receives BMEP Award

During the annual Bilingual Education Day at the State Legislature, held in Santa Fe on March 7, the State of New Mexico honored McCormick Elementary’s Spanish Dual Language Program for its outstanding work. This marks the second year in a row that a school in our district has been recognized—last year, Apache Elementary received the same award. The Board celebrated this honor this week (see top photo). You can read more details here.

Bilingual Programs Application for the 2025-2026 School Year

The Board approved the 2025-2026 Bilingual Application to the New Mexico Public Education Department. There will be no changes to the programs and models for the upcoming academic year, meaning Farmington Municipal Schools will continue running the same bilingual programs while evaluating their effectiveness in the current year. See more details below.

Trip Approvals

The Board also approved the following student trips:

• San Juan College High’s Science Research Club will travel to the National American Indian Science & Engineering Fair (NAISEF) at Oklahoma State University on March 28-29.

• Farmington High’s Business Professionals of America (BPA) will head to Orlando, Florida, on May 7-11 for a national competition.

• Farmington High’s JROTC Robotics Team will travel to Dallas, Texas, for the JROTC Robotics Championship from May 7-12.

• Farmington High’s Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) will compete at Nationals in Florida this July.

Finally, the Board reviewed a presentation on the most recent Audit Review, which provides insight into the district’s financial standing. The full report is available on our Financial Transparency page here and here.

The next Board of Education meeting will be on April 8, 2025.