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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Albuquerque Public Schools Superintendent Luis Valentino confirmed Tuesday that he sent “an errant text” complaining that APS Chief Financial Officer Don Moya was running “roughshot” to Moya himself.

Moya was placed on paid administrative leave Friday shortly after the text exchange.

Monica Armenta, APS’ executive director of communications, speaking for Valentino, said the intended recipient of Valentino’s text was New Mexico Public Education Secretary Hanna Skandera but would say little else about the situation, including whether the texts triggered events that left Moya on paid administrative leave.

“This is a personnel issue,” Armenta said. “It was not his (Valentino’s) choice to share (the texts) with media and the world. The fact that it was shared does not change that it is a private, personnel issue.”

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Armenta added that the superintendent “is disappointed that (the text exchange) has become an issue that takes any focus away from the start of school.”

“Everyone’s focus right now should be on back to school – making sure we have teachers in classrooms,” she said.

Asked about criticism by union leaders of Valentino for communicating with Skandera on APS hiring and firing decisions, Armenta said those communications with PED are a normal interaction for education officials.

“When Veronica Garcia was the secretary of education, the superintendent had sometimes daily contact with her,” Armenta said. “We work with the Public Education Department. I don’t really know that there is anything really that unusual about any one of the 89 superintendents in this state having conversations with the secretary of education. We are publicly funded.”

Armenta would not comment on particular complaints about APS that have appeared online since the text exchange came to light Sunday.

“I don’t think we are ever going to get into the practice of officially commenting on social media postings,” she said.

A screen shot of the texts between Valentino and Moya was posted on Stand4KidsNM, the Facebook page of former APS board member Kathy Korte, and subsequently posted on Twitter by AngryNMTeacher.