Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Tucumcari and Logan schools are preparing for a partial resumption Monday of in-person classes for middle-school and high-school students for the first time in more than 10 months.
Citing a drop in COVID-19 cases statewide and science to lessen the risk of viral spread, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham green-lighted a mix of in-person and online classes for middle-schoolers and high-schoolers during her State of the State address last week.
Most schools throughout New Mexico had been using a hybrid model of in-person and online learning for only elementary students and special-education pupils since the school year began in August. Next week would be the first time middle school and high school students had been in classrooms since March, when the New Mexico Department of Education canceled in-person classes because of rising coronavirus cases.
Tucumcari Public Schools assistant superintendent Dave Johnson said Thursday he didn’t know all the details of his district’s reopening for middle-school and high-school students because plans still were being worked out. He added it should come together quickly later this week.
“It shouldn’t be a problem because we started planning last fall to do all that with our middle school and high school,” he said. “We thought we were going to get up in a couple of weeks. But then the (coronavirus) numbers went up, and the state shut that down. But the basic plans have been in place most of the school year. It’s just a case of refining them and figuring out how many families are choose to start remote so we know how to handle both sets of kids.”
Johnson said about one-third of Tucumcari’s elementary students opted for remote learning only during the previous semester. The district is surveying parents of middle school and high school students about their wishes, but Johnson estimates about 25% of them will opt for online classes only.
“That’s going to be one of our bigger issues,” he said of students choosing online classes only. “Communication is going to be important, especially the first week or two we begin this.”
Johnson said another logistical challenge is coordinating schedules so children from the same family will attend online or in-person classes on the same days.
In terms of teachers and staff receiving COVID-19 vaccines, Johnson said “a large portion” have received the first dose but won’t get the second until after those in-person classes resume.
Johnson acknowledged there is “a little apprehension” from district employees about the middle school and high school resuming in-person classes.
“But I think they’ll do whatever it takes,” he said. “We know the kids need to be in school.”
Logan Municipal Schools on Thursday posted on social media and the school’s website a two-page document about middle-school and high-school reopening procedures. It addresses student transportation, school arrival, classroom cohorting, health screenings, attendance, safety protocols, learning space, meals, assessments and dress code.
Logan superintendent Dennis Roch did not return an email requesting comment.
According to updated guidance from the PED about reopenings:
• All schools will be eligible to enter hybrid learning mode, with up to 50% of students at a time to maintain social distancing.
• Districts and schools with fewer than 100 students, which include San Jon and House in Quay County, can bring all students back in a 5-to-1 ratio with no more than six people in an enclosed space. San Jon and House have operated in such an arrangement for months.
• Districts and schools not ready for a transition to hybrid may expand small-group instruction with up to 50% of students participating at a time.
Previously, school districts could enter hybrid learning only if their county entered the green designation — fewer than eight daily cases per 100,000 residents and test positivity at or below 5%.
There will continue to be different criteria for green (both gating criteria met), yellow (one benchmark met) and red zones (neither criteria met). In red counties, employee surveillance testing is required at 25% per week. In yellow and green counties, the surveillance testing must be at least 12.5%. Quay County remains in the red zone, as it has for weeks.
The state requires an onsite visit to certify readiness, continued use of student cohorts, upgraded air filtration and strict enforcement of COVID-safe protocols that include face coverings and social distancing.
Lujan Grisham prefaced the announcement that came during her State of the State address Jan. 26 by praising teachers and school support staff for going “the extra mile” during a school year that required much online instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There’s no substitute for in-person learning. And there’s no negotiating about the health and safety of students, families and educators,” the governor said. “I believe the planning and hard work has paid off, and our state has developed a solid, epidemiologically sound plan for a safe expansion of in-person learning for all age groups, supported by union leadership.
“We will get this right, and we will move forward, and every school district in the state will be able to welcome all ages of students safely back to the classroom on Feb. 8.”
To lessen the risk of COVID-19 spread at schools, Lujan Grisham said she worked with several entities, including school superintendents, “to enhance the safety of school buildings and expand surveillance testing.”
Lujan Grisham hinted during a press briefing in January she was considering the resumption of in-person classes for middle school and high school students. She suggested an announcement was imminent after a reporter noted recent scientific evidence that indicated in-person teaching and sports were low-risk in spreading coronavirus if precautions were followed.
During a briefing last week, Human Services Secretary David Scrase said recent medical literature suggests the chance of COVID-19 infection was low after the resumption of in-person classes in other states. He said school staff members had a higher incidence of infection than students.
Education Secretary Ryan Stewart said there would be no school closures if a county fell from the green or yellow zone to the red zone in future COVID-19 risk assessments. The only closure would occur if a school building saw four rapid responses for a confirmed cases in 14 days.
“This has been a long road, and it has not been easy,” Stewart said, adding the pandemic has made it “easily the most difficult time ever in education.”
The Eastern New Mexico News contributed to this report.