The governing board of San Juan Basin Technical School has asked the school’s administration to investigate allegations of misconduct made by recent graduates at Monday’s board meeting.

Several parents and alumni of the school’s electronics program claimed that they were not able to pass industry certification tests because of inadequate instruction and faulty equipment.

"I feel that the instructors here are not certified nor qualified to teach any of the courses in the electronics program," said Ryan Patterson, a Class of 2000 graduate.

Another recent graduate, Matthew Bane, commented, "I feel that I wasted my time here."

The graduates’ testimony was disputed by a group of current students who defended both the program and its instructors.

The electronics program trains students on computer and broadcasting systems so that they can certify with the International Society of Certified Electronics Technicians, A+ computer certifications, and Cisco Certified Network Associates.

According to the graduates, all 10 members of this year’s graduating class failed the Certified Electronics Technician exam the first time they were tested, and only three passed after the third testing. Patterson said that he plans to take the A+ and Cisco tests after he has completed training through his employer.

Several graduates testified that instructors frequently missed classes or left during class. They also said that instructors distributed the answers to tests after they had been proctored, and allowed students to change incorrect answers on their tests to pass the exams.

In addition, the graduates said they were expected to work on broken equipment, and the necessary resources they needed to complete their courses weren’t offered.

Students also claimed to have been belittled in class by their instructors. Patterson said that on one occasion a teacher called him a "stupid little bastard."

The school’s governing board, which is comprised of two representatives from each of the area school boards, meets monthly to discuss school policies and issues.

During the public meeting, the board did not allow students to discuss the individual instructors, but after the meeting the students said that they were concerned with two of the three instructors in the program.

Anthony Valdez Jr., the head of the electronics department, and Stan Eubanks, an electronics instructor, were named by the students. Neither Valdez Jr. or Eubanks were present at Monday’s meeting.

Both Valdez Jr. and Eubanks refused to comment Tuesday on the allegations until they could discuss the situation with the board.

Ruth Hoyt and Robert Valencia, two of the seven electronics students who sent a letter to the administration in support of the program and their instructors, said that they have never witnessed any instructor belittling a student or distributing answers to exams, other than to explain students’ test results.

"While there are those that want to make an issue out of purely personal and unfounded accusations, we beg to differ," the letter stated. "We have been given the instruction, tools, texts, and resources to successfully complete this course."

Hoyt and Valencia have just completed their first year in the program, and said they are completely satisfied with their education.

They did, however, admit that there were problems with the equipment and with instructors leaving classes to repair equipment and to perform other duties. Valencia said he believes that this is the result of budgetary problems whereby the instructors have other duties assigned at the school in addition to teaching.

Hoyt and Valencia said that the students’ inability to pass the CET was because of a lack of student initiative, rather than a problem with the program or its instructors.

Debra Pearson, a ’96 graduate, testified that she had similar problems with the department while she was a student. She says the poor student evaluations and complaints of the ’96 and ’97 classes were dismissed as simple "personality conflicts" by the administration, until they were presented to the board.

Walt Buckholts, secretary of the school’s board of directors, said that the recent complaints came as a total surprise. Buckholts has been on the board for six years, and was present when the classes of ’96 and ’97 made similar accusations. He said that he believed the problems had been dealt with after personnel changes were made within the administration, and was unaware that they were still occurring.

"I think it’s been brought to the board because people want action and they want it now. But we’re not going to railroad anybody," said Buckholts.

Buckholts said an external audit of the program is a possibility, but is probably not necessary to correct the problems, if there are any.

Dr. Jerry Atkinson, a vocational/technical education manager at Colorado Community College and Occupational Education System — the state accreditation agency for the Tech School — also attended the meeting. He said that there are some legitimate concerns that need to be addressed, but said he has full confidence that the board and the parents will be able to handle them locally.

The board called a private meeting immediately following the public meeting to interview students individually regarding the allegations.