Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Tucumcari Public Schools’ superintendent said he didn’t plan to exact any punishment for employees who refuse to undergo random COVID-19 testing as recommended by the state.
School board member Heather Gonzales during the board’s Sept. 21 meeting asked whether faculty or staff would be reprimanded if they refused to take a test. The New Mexico Public Education Department in early September issued new guidelines that requires 5% of employees to be randomly tested for the virus.
Superintendent Aaron McKinney said such employees have the right to refuse the test and added there would be “no repercussions from me.”
“I don’t plan to have any repercussions on anybody,” he added.
McKinney cautioned, however, that the state’s public school insurance authority would not cover districts that refuse to follow state edicts.
“That was a very scary memo we got,” McKinney said, referring to the liability issue.
He said he still was taking with PED about the random-testing issue.
McKinney said during his superintendent’s report later in the meeting the ventilation systems in some district buildings would be required to use upgraded MERV 13 filters that are more expensive and must be changed more often. He said that rule primarily would affect the high school and gymnasium.
Upgrading filters also were part of PED’s new guidelines issued in early September.
He also said any school employee also would be mandated to quarantine for 14 days if he or she was simply exposed to someone with COVID-19.
The board also heard reports from the district’s principals and technologist on in-person and online instruction.
High school principal Nicole Bright-Lesly said her students were “off to a good, running start” with online instruction. She said only four or five students were experiencing issues with internet access. She said Plateau was working with resolving access problems, and school employees were helping students troubleshoot students’ Chromebook computers. Bright-Lesly said grades were good, and attendance was improving.
Middle-school principal Lendall Borden said two liaisons were helping document student attendance and that intervention helps resolve such problems. He said recent survey indicated a majority of students are ready to return to in-person instruction.
Elementary-school principal Tonya Hodges said enrollment in prekindergarten has grown almost daily the last two weeks, but the kindergarten class was smaller than normal. When board member Jerry Joe Lopez asked about enrollment numbers, Hodges said the current number was 426 and anticipated 10 more. Elementary enrollment the previous year was 480.
Gonzales praised online programs for the first and second grades, but criticized the lack of communication from instructors in older grades.
Technologist Patrick Benavidez said internet Wi-Fi towers erected around the high school and middle schools didn’t have as wide a range as he’d hoped, but students are able to easily download data from nearby parking lots.
Benavidez also said an order of 500 Chromebooks for students are expected to arrive in early October, sooner than expected.
In other business:
• McKinney said in his superintendent’s report the city will transfer the ballfields property to the district by Oct. 8. The district is planning a $3 million redevelopment of its baseball and softball fields, with a new concession stand.
• The board without discussion approved a final reading of a school attendance policy regarding online instruction.