Audit Reveals Former Taos School Official Allegedly Funneled Nearly $250K in School Contracts to a Company He Owned

A forensic audit has accused a former Taos Municipal Schools official of funneling nearly $250,000 in school contracts to a fencing company he owned, KOAT reports. The audit has triggered an ethics complaint and fresh scrutiny of public procurement.

At the center of the allegations is Robert Valencia, the district’s former facilities director. Investigators say he used his position for five years to direct district work to his company, All Around Fencing LLC, with subcontractors doing much of the work. Auditors cited projects including a back gate at Taos Middle School, landscaping around a fence at Arroyos del Norte Elementary and work on a portable at Taos High School.

The audit also found that Valencia’s wife, then the district’s assistant finance director, falsified tax documents to hide her husband’s involvement, the Albuquerque Journal reported. The district placed the couple on leave in 2022 after concerns about financial irregularities. "Anytime a district goes through a forensic audit, and you see the results from that of this magnitude, it will always be shocking," Superintendent Antonio Layton told KOAT.

The State Ethics Commission filed a complaint of more than 100 pages that aligns with many of the audit’s allegations but declined to comment because the case is pending. Valencia also declined to comment, saying his attorney advised him not to speak. Layton said the district has since changed its process and added oversight and transparency measures. No criminal charges had been announced at the time of the report.

Editor’s note: Updated Oct. 31, 2026. This story is now part of Daily Reports, our New Mexico news roundup, and was revised to credit KOAT’s original reporting. Learn how Daily Reports works in our editorial standards.