Gallup-McKinley County Schools Terminates Contract with Stride/K12 Citing Severe Academic and Legal Violations

District Prioritizes Student Success Over Corporate Profits; Initiates Transition to New Online Learning Model

GALLUP, N.M., May 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Gallup-McKinley County Schools (GMCS) announced the termination of its educational services contract with Stride Inc. (formerly K12 Inc.), effective June 30. This action, taken during a special School Board meeting, follows 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.

GMCS School Board President Chris Mortensen stated, "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."

Stride CEO James Rhyu has admitted to failing to meet New Mexico's legal requirements for teacher-student ratios, an issue that GMCS suspects was not isolated. "We have reason to believe that Stride has raised student-teacher ratios not just in New Mexico but nationwide," said Mortensen. "If true, this could have inflated Stride's annual profit margins by hundreds of millions of dollars. That would mean corporate revenues and stock prices benefited at the expense of students and in some cases, in defiance of the law."

The harm inflicted was particularly egregious in Gallup-McKinley County, one of the most impoverished regions in the United States, where Stride's online learning model served a majority-minority, low-income student population. "These are students who rely most on educational opportunity, and they were let down," Mortensen said.

 The data reveals a troubling decline:

• Graduation rates in GMCS's Stride-managed online program plunged from 55.79% in 2022 to just 27.67% in 2024.
• Student turnover reached an alarming 30%.
• New Mexico state math proficiency scores for Stride students dropped dramatically, falling to just 5.6%.
• Ghost enrollments and a lack of individualized instruction further compromised student learning. 

Despite numerous warnings and efforts by the district to support corrective action, Stride/K12 repeatedly failed to improve. The School Board unanimously approved the contract termination and has authorized its attorneys to pursue arbitration for damages. Stride's legal attempt to block the termination through a Temporary Restraining Order was rejected in an early morning hearing by the New Mexico District Court in Aztec.

These issues echo national patterns exposed by The New York Times, which revealed that Stride and similar companies have too often sacrificed educational quality in pursuit of investor returns. Internal audits cited in the Times article showed leadership ignored clear red flags in favor of aggressive enrollment and revenue growth.

"Gallup-McKinley County Schools students were used to prop up Stride's bottom line," said Mortensen. "This district, like many others, trusted Stride to deliver education. Instead, we got negligence cloaked in corporate branding."

GMCS is now focused on the transition to a new online learning model rooted in integrity, compliance, transparency, and student success. The district is working directly with families to ensure continued academic support during the transition. Expanded special education oversight and local accountability will be central to the district's new direction.

For additional updates, visit www.gmcs.org.

SOURCE Gallup-McKinley County Schools