Schools detail online learning efforts

Administrators and staffers at Tucumcari Public Schools detailed recent efforts to convert to online learning during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic at the school board’s April 20 meeting.

The meeting wasn’t held at the district’s unit office, but online through Google Hangouts, a voice conferencing program. Though the meeting went mostly smoothly, it accentuated technical challenges faced by administrators with occasional glitches, audio feedback and volume drop-offs.

The district’s technology director, Patrick Benavidez, said 81 households were given 60 days of free internet service from Plateau and 154 computer devices were checked out to households that lacked the equipment for online learning.

Benavidez said 543 Chromebook computers have been ordered for students in grades five through 12 in the 2020-2021 school year. He said the district’s goal is to buy another 350 devices for the upcoming fiscal year, making the district a true one-to-one school where each student has computer access.

Teachers are using Google Classroom as the online learning platform, he said.

Elementary school principal Tonya Hodges said teachers are trying to conduct at least one Zoom video conferencing meeting a week.

She said staffers are gathering belongings and supplies, including school photographs, of about 520 students, place them in bags, then would organize a curbside pickup later, much like the district’s curbside breakfast and lunch pickups.

“It’s a trying time, and it’s a big learning experience,” Hodges said. “I don’t think anyone would have imagined this. We hope to the good Lord we won’t have to do this again, but if we do, we’ve learned a lot.”

Middle-school principal Lendall Borden said all his students have a computer device and internet access. He estimated 70% to 80% of students are participating online, and “each week is going to get better.”

He said assignments have been posted and graded online, and parents can be involved. Borden said assignments have become simpler and smaller, with three hours of work per day per student.

Borden said many teachers who also maintain virtual office hours are communicating with students seven days a week.

“Most teachers are working harder than they were in the classroom,” he said.

High-school principal Nicole Bright-Lesly said 85% to 90% of her students participate in online classes. Teachers are working as early as 7 a.m. and as late as 10 p.m., she said.

Bright-Lesly said all seniors have met competency requirements for graduation, clearing them to participate when that ceremony is scheduled.

All administrators praised Benavidez and his wife, middle-school teacher and adept Google Classroom user Dana Benavidez, for their work in smoothing the transition to online learning for teachers and students.

“I think Patrick and Dana need Superman capes,” district business manager Leola Patterson said.

Answering a question from board member Jerry Joe Lopez, superintendent Aaron McKinney said a few students have not answered the district’s phone calls and letters once online learning started.

Early in the meeting during board member comments, Heather Gonzales expressed dissatisfaction with the district’s response once the effects of the pandemic rippled through the state. She said students went home with no access to supplies such as crayons, pencils and paper and wanted a distribution day for those items.

“I felt we tucked our tail between our legs when this happened,” she said, referring to the outbreak. “I’d like a little more heart for these kids.”

McKinney said health and education officials initially discouraged distributing materials from the schools because of the virus. Administrators later in the meeting discussed how students’ belongings and materials would be distributed later.

McKinney added in a phone interview after the meeting that district food director Eva Lane and her staff also should be commended for serving thousands of meals curbside to students after school buildings were closed because of the pandemic.

In other business:

• McKinney briefly talked about looming budget challenges at the state and district level because of the plummeting price of oil.

Before the board’s meeting, he’d noted the price of domestic oil, a major source of revenue in the state, had dropped to $1 a barrel because of a lack of demand. The state’s budget, passed only a few months ago, had projected an oil price of $50 a barrel. Several state lawmakers now are projecting deficits of several billion dollars.

He said the New Mexico Legislature likely would hold a special session in late June or early July to deal with budget difficulties. He said teachers have a 4% raise entitled by state law, but that could change.

“I want the board to be prepared if they change our budget and sweep away that cash balance we have,” McKinney said.

Board president Leif Gray echoed those budget concerns, saying: “There are a lot of unknowns.”

• The board approved a consent agenda that included a final reading of two policy changes involving school bus drivers who must own a commercial driver’s license. The policies state a driver with a drug- or alcohol-related offense must notify the district. Also, if a district driver is fired for such an offense, it must share the information on a database.

• In response to a question by Lopez, McKinney said attorneys for the district and the city of Tucumcari along with acting city manager Mark Martinez are working on a contract for a $3 million redevelopment of baseball and softball fields. Bonds that voters approved earlier this year would pay for the project. McKinney said in previous meetings the district could develop new fields near Mountain View School if it can’t reach an agreement with the city.