Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The Logan school board voiced irritation about the prospect of state mask requirements when classes resume later this month but was unwilling to flout any such mandate because of the possible consequences.
Katarina Sandoval, deputy secretary for the New Mexico Public Education Department, said via videoconference during a special board meeting Thursday the PED likely would adopt U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 guidelines that recommends all students and staff wear masks regardless of vaccination status.
Last week, the PED issued guidelines requiring masks for elementary staff and students and those who are unvaccinated against the virus. That edict came one day before the CDC issued its new guidelines. Sandoval said the PED was revising its guidelines and would release them this week.
Sandoval said data indicates the more-contagious Delta variant of the virus was affecting more school-age children. She said a vaccine for those age 5 to 11 likely wouldn’t be available until December.
Superintendent Dennis Roch said a universal mask mandate for schools was “an overreaction.”
“School boards across the state are seeing this as an overstepping of authority,” he added.
Board member Laurie Strebeck said school boards should be allowed to issue their own safety regulations, especially considering Logan’s relatively small size compared to other districts.
Board member Tom Humble asked whether the state could use regional or district modeling of the disease’s spread “to apply to our situation,” roughly like the red-to-turquoise county model used in the spring. Sandoval said she’d pass along the idea to superiors.
Strebeck asked what would happen if the board refused to comply with a mask mandate. Sandoval said the PED would issue a letter, asking the board to comply. If it didn’t, the state could suspend or disband the board and name new people to run the district, though she called that “a last resort.”
The board also was told if administrators chose to not enforce a mask mandate, they could lose their licenses.
During public comments, Tonya Perez said a mask mandate was “an overreach of power.”
“I’m here to ask you to stand up to it,” she said. “Find a way to say no.”
Perez said “others would follow” if the Logan board refused to follow the edict. She referred to the Floyd school board, which voted last week to not follow a mask mandate and subsequently received a letter from PED that threatened to suspend the board if it didn’t relent. The Floyd board scheduled another meeting this week to discuss the letter.
“She can’t fire you all,” Perez said.
Perez is the wife of board member Kyle Perez, and she helped organize mask-burning protests in Logan in June and on Saturday.
At least one other audience member voiced a similar sentiment to Perez’s.
Humble said he was disinclined to jeopardize the licenses of Roch and other Logan administrators by disobeying the state. He said he’d rather have Roch figure out ways to “wiggle” around mandates, including holding more classes outdoors, where masks aren’t required.
Strebeck also noted consequences if the Logan board was removed. She said the district’s insurer would not cover liability claims for COVID-related incidents.
Strebeck also said the PED has the authority to suspend or replace the board.
“I don’t want people from Santa Fe running this board,” she said. “It’s a tricky spot. There are consequences. I don’t like it. But I don’t want the school closed; I want our kids in school.”
Once the board made it clear it wouldn’t refuse to follow a mask mandate, all 15 people in the audience walked out of the board room.
The board later approved a draft from Roch that lists reopening procedures when the school year begins Aug. 16. He noted the state had eased many COVID-related regulations compared to the spring, including these changes:
• Back-to-normal bus routes, including prekindergarten students and out-of-district students again being permitted to ride, based on available space;
• Students in grades six to 12 may enter by the office or into the cafeteria and may arrive much earlier than last year;
• Students will not have temperatures taken by school staff upon arrival, and parents can sign a form to opt out of COVID testing for their children;
• Students will not be considered a “close contact” of a positive COVID-19 case or be required to quarantine for merely being in the same classroom, bus or team as an infected student;
• Attendance no longer will be based upon the completion of an online assignment posted by a teacher;
• Masks are required only indoors, compared to masks being required anywhere on campus last year. Roch said staff will seek to maximize outdoor learning to allow for mask removal;
• Social distancing has been reduced from 6 feet to 3 feet, and the school will resume the use of lockers, water fountains and locker rooms;
• Middle and high school students will be served breakfast in the cafeteria, not their classrooms;
• Failure to wear a mask properly will be treated as a dress code violation, with opportunities to correct it before contacting parents or temporary removal from campus.
“This draft prioritizes getting kids back in school,” Roch said.
The board approved the draft, with a statement that administrators have the flexibility to adjust it when needs arise.
“I’m OK with this, as long as we don’t give up the fight,” board member Kyle Perez said.