Mesa Alta Junior High School Principal Colin Mize, who has faced claims of inappropriate and possibly criminal behavior since 2021, continues to be a subject of an investigation. School officials have largely gone silent.
Assault and battery and child abuse are just a few of the accusations being lobbed at the embattled Mize.
School staff and students at the Bloomfield school were reported victims of Mize’s “unsafe” management practices, according to a 2021-2022 performance evaluation completed by Bloomfield Schools Superintendent Dr. Kimberly Mizell.
The complaints led to Bloomfield Police Department to investigate Mize, and charges may be pending, according to San Juan County Deputy District Attorney Dustin O’Brien.
The alleged assault and battery case is under investigation by the San Juan County District Attorney’s Office, which is gathering information, according to O’Brien. He said there was a “question of whether it is battery on a school employee.”
If the case were determined to be a misdemeanor it would be outside the statute of limitations, but if it were determined to be a felony, formal charges could be brought against Mize, O’Brien said.
The case in question makes allegations of Mize pinching a subordinate employee so hard that he reportedly left bruises.
The Tri-City Record contacted Mize, who said he could not comment on any of the allegations. “There’s a lot of false information out there,” he said.
According to a Bloomfield police case report dated Jan. 1, Mize had been accused of a pattern of abuse that allegedly began in October 2021 and ended in January 2022, when Assistant Principal Dannette Lopez left her job to escape what she described as abuse, harassment and retaliation.
“The first time he pinched me, it caught me off guard. I remember saying ‘Ouch don’t do that! That hurt!,’” she told police. “The second time he did it, I told him, ’Don’t pinch me, you bruised me last time.’ He just laughed.”
“The third time he did it I got extremely mad and told him ‘How would you like it if your wife came home with bruises on her from another man? Don’t ever touch me again!’” Lopez said.
Lopez told police that Mize “pinched her on the right arm approximately three inches above her elbow on the back side of her arm leaving bruising all three times,” the case report stated.
Lopez did not have evidence of the bruising, because the photos of the bruises were “on her last phone,” which she no longer had. However, two other school employees reported that they saw the bruises, and Lopez’s “husband did see the last bruise,” the police report said.
Lopez made her first formal complaint against Mize on Nov. 16, 2022, through the New Mexico Public Education Department. It became a part of Mize’s personnel record. In it, she complained not only about the physical abuse, but about inappropriate interactions such as Mize calling her his “work wife,” and asking her to call him her “work husband.”
Mize was a 2007 Bloomfield High School graduate and football star, earning the All-District and All-State award for his position as a lineman. He attended Eastern New Mexico State University, where he earned a bachelor’s and master’s of science, graduating with 3.75 GPA. He completed his student teaching at Portales Junior High School.
Before seeking and gaining employment for Bloomfield Municipal Schools, Mize worked in Lovington as a physical science teacher. He became the Mesa Alta Junior High School principal in 2020.
In a Facebook post Oct. 20, 2020, Mize introduced himself to parents and guardians and addressed the “frustration” with staff, students and families.
“As we finish the first quarter, the staff and I would like to hear your input on how we can do better. In a time of frustration, communication and expectations need to be clear and concise,” he wrote.
According to Mize’s 2021-22 performance evaluation completed by Kimberly Mizell, superintendent of Bloomfield School District, Mize “worked throughout the year to change the culture of the school. This work has been very challenging.”
“He did not maintain a professional rapport with staff,” Mizell wrote, adding that Mize needed to work on his leadership skills to ensure he was acting “in a professional manner that doesn’t result in grievances, unrest among staff.”
Mizell also stated that he “is not at a level where he truly understands the ramifications and liability levels if he proceeds in way that will get him trouble.”
She ended the evaluation by referring to him as a “novice” who did not “truly understand the gravity of your actions. We want you to manage your school. However, doing things that are not legally wise will get you in a lot of trouble.”
Mizell advised Mize to “reflect on current practices that have resulted in unsafe situations in relation to appropriate level of staff monitoring student’s behaviors.”
It was alleged that Mize, on May 13, 2022, “smacked” a male student in the neck during lunch. The student told Bloomfield police he had not behaved in class and Mize asked him about his actions. Then, Mize “told him to put his head down and ‘smacked’ him on his neck with his ‘left hand.’”
The student further stated he was “shocked when Mize did it, but he did not express pain or injury,” according to the police report, which redacted Mize’s name from the report. The student reportedly walked away to play a game, and police wrote that if an injury had occurred, the student “would have felt the immediate effects of it and would not have been able to play tag or run with his friends after being slapped.”
The student did not tell his mother, and neither did the school at the time of the incident, according to a complaint filed with the Public Education Department. “When asked if he (the student) would like us to notify his parent of what had occurred he stated ‘No.’”
The student’s name was redacted from the report, which continued to state “(The student) went on to say that his mom is ‘violent’ and she would just want ‘Mr. Mize fired’ and that it was no big deal.”
The personnel complaint further stated that an anonymous report of child abuse was filed against Mize. This reportedly led Bloomfield Schools’ Human Resources Director Debbie Hernandez to schedule a meeting on May 18, 2022, “between herself, Mr. Mize and (the student’s) mother.”
The complaint further stated the mother told Hernandez “everything was okay and she did not want to proceed with any actions against Mize.”
However, the mother spoke to Bloomfield police the same day and said she “would like to pursue charges” against Mize, according to police records.
The student changed his story when speaking to police. The student said “the slap was hard enough to push him forward and said it hurt his head.” He also stated it made him feel “embarrassed” at the time.
Mize addressed the claim in a letter in his personnel file, which was released from the state under the Freedom of Information Act. He said the incident happened May 12, 2022, which was off by one day from the original police report. In the letter, Mize admitted that he smacked the student.
Mize wrote:
“I had him look me in the eyes, and I explained that he broke his promise to me, and that promises are words to be valued or to not say them at all. I then asked him what they would do in Lovington – he stated ‘what?’ During that time, I had him lean his head forward, and I ‘smacked’ his neck. This was not done in and aggressive manner – he was not offended by this.”
Mize also stated in the letter that his actions might “seem malicious and hurtful,” but he was in a situation that “was built on trust, relational capacity and mutual understanding.”
The Bloomfield Police case report labeled the potential charge as child abuse, but the district attorney in the case declined to prosecute, because it came down to the question of whether the actions were in “anger” or not, according to O’Brien. O’Brien said it would have been a petty misdemeanor that could have been filed with the city attorney’s office.
Since the claims became public, school officials have declined to talk further with the Tri-City Record about the case.
Mize is listed on Bloomfield Municipal Schools’ website as the principal at Mesa Alta Junior High School, and when the Tri-City Record spoke to Mize, he stated he could not comment on whether he would continue as Mesa Alta Junior High principal next year or take another job within the Bloomfield School District.
