San Jon board votes to delay first day of school

The San Jon school board voted last week during a special meeting to delay the first day of school from Aug. 10 to Sept. 8.

San Jon’s new school starting date is the same day a new order by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham that allows in-person teaching of elementary students goes into effect.

Superintendent Janet Gladu said San Jon would hold classes in-house that day for children from kindergarten through fifth grade.

Students from sixth to 12th grades would begin classes online until the state deems it safe to resume in-person classes. Those in-class start times are penciled for late September to early October.

Gladu said San Jon Municipal Schools also would postpone the end of the school year from May 13 to May 27 to help make up for the lost time.

She said the district also would add about one Friday for each month of instructional time.

“We’re trying to get the kids on campus,” Gladu said during a telephone interview when asked about the school-opening change. “In discussion with staff and our board members, they felt the best thing for our students was to push it back to Sept. 8. Our hope is to bring kids here, especially our littles.”

Gladu said Lujan Grisham allowed in-class teaching of groups of five students or fewer from kindergarten through third grade before Sept. 8, but that was not feasible for San Jon.

The governor ordered public schools that begin their school years in mid-August to go with online learning except for a few cases in which school can hold small groups of in-person classes for children from kindergarten to third grade.

On Sept. 8, the state plans to begin a hybrid model of online and in-person classes, with kindergarten through fifth grade starting wholly with in-person classes.

Lujan Grisham said state officials want to prioritize in-person classes for young children because they struggle more in online settings and are most vulnerable to falling behind academically.

When students in sixth through 12th grades can begin online classes is dependent on how well the state is handling the spread of coronavirus. Lujan Grisham said she was hopeful middle-school students could begin in-person classes by late September and high-schoolers by early October.