In-person learning expanding

Tucumcari, Logan and House public schools announced they would expand in-person classes to fifth grade this week after Quay County landed in the green zone last week for the state's school-reopening criteria.

Logan Municipal Schools superintendent Dennis Roch announced on the district's website Thursday it would welcome back all prekindergarten through fifth-grade students Monday except for those who had chosen to learn online during the first semester.

Tucumcari Public Schools announced in a Facebook post at midday Friday it would begin a hybrid model of in-class and remote learning Monday for prekindergarten through fifth grade. Superintendent Aaron McKinney said he and other school officials met with elementary staff earlier Friday to “come up with the best plan to meet the needs of our students.”

San Jon Municipal Schools superintendent Janet Gladu stated Friday afternoon in a Facebook post the district had just passed the state’s Public Education Department inspection and was approved to bring back students in the classroom from prekindergarten through fifth grade in groups of a 5-to-1 ratio of students to teachers. Students in pre-K to second grade would continue on their current schedules.

Gladu said school officials would be reaching out individually to families this week to discuss options for third- through fifth-graders, likely on a rotating schedule.

She said she was hoping the state soon would approve San Jon as a micro-district, which would enable it to allow sixth- to 12th-grade students back in the classroom in groups of five. Even with approval, it would take “several days” for the district to design its secondary schedule.

“We are hoping to have our 6th-12th grade students back on campus by October 14th,” Gladu wrote.

House Municipal Schools superintendent Bonnie Lightfoot stated in a Saturday letter posted on the district’s website the PED had approved a plan for a hybrid model of in-class instruction and remote learning for children from kindergarten through sixth grade starting Tuesday.

Lightfoot also stated she anticipated the state’s approval of all students for in-person classes “in the very near future.”

Quay County had spent the previous month in the red zone, then the yellow zone, for school reopenings. To expand in-person instruction, the county was required to have an average daily COVID-19 case rate of 8 or fewer per 100,000 people and a test-positivity rate of under 5%.

On Wednesday afternoon, an update to the state Department of Health's website showed Quay County to have an average daily rate of 4.3 per 100,000 and a test-positive rate of 2.9% from Sept. 15 to Sept. 28.

Neighboring Curry County, which was in the green zone the previous two-week period, tumbled back into the red zone.

The counties of Lea, Eddy, Roosevelt, Chaves and Luna – all in the southeast quadrant — have been firmly entrenched in the red zone since the benchmarks were established.

New Mexico Education Secretary Ryan Stewart also announced during a governor's news briefing Thursday that counties that fall back into the red zone during the next two-week reporting period won't necessarily lead an immediate closure of those schools.

Stewart reported just over 200 COVID-19 cases related to schools have been reported, but the vast majority occurred in staffers and students who weren’t in classrooms.

Stewart said the state recently landed a $10 million grant over five years to improve access to school-based mental health services. He said he would have more details about how the grants would be dispersed and used in the coming days.

Answering a question from a reporter, Stewart said many school districts have reported decreases in enrollment, but it was too soon to determine whether it would be a short- or long-term effect. He said the full extent of the effect would be better known after districts submit their 40-day student counts to the PED. He said homeschool numbers are “up significantly,” but those numbers still are relatively small.

Tucumcari Elementary School has seen a substantial drop in enrollment this fall, while numbers at the middle school and high school have remained stable.