SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Public Education Department Secretary Ryan Stewart is providing details on hybrid in-person and online learning for elementary school-aged children, which can start in certain school districts as early as next week.
It's unclear which schools, if any, will actually have in-person classes on Sept. 8, the earliest date allowed.
“There are board meetings happening today," Stewart said. “So it’s (really) fluid. It's gone back and forth.”
The vast majority of New Mexico's counties have low enough COVID-19 numbers to meet criteria outlined by the Department of Health, and many have submitted plans approved by the Education Department.
While many of those school districts have pushed all in-person weeks or months, Albuquerque, the state’s largest district, says it will stay online through January. It is considering a plan to provide in-person learning for students with special needs at a 1-to-5 student-teacher ratio.
If outbreaks remain low, the state's education department will allow in-person learning up to middle and high schools. For now, the vast majority of students will be working from home.
Access to the internet and compatible devices improved in this poor, rural state since March and April when one in five children couldn’t connect to online learning. Yet few schools have been able to connect all students to remote classes, and in some areas half or more students cannot get online.
In several rural districts serving Indigenous students, up to 80 percent do not have access to the internet at home, and about half cannot access the internet at all.
Last week, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said that in-person classes will be limited to children in kindergarten through 5th grade because that age group suffers the most from online learning and poses the least risk for spreading and catching the virus.
The governor also outlined protocols for which schools will open and how they may shut down if COVID-19 cases are reported among students and staff.
Schools will open by district based on a number of testing and case criteria, determined by two-week rolling averages. When a person tests for the virus, entire classrooms or wings of a school may need to be closed.
Human Services Secretary David Scrase drew a contrast Thursday between New Mexico and other states where schools opened up earlier, for students of all ages, with higher levels of COVID-19 cases in the community.
He said a more conservative approach, as well as modeling from a team of scientists at the Los Alamos National Labs, could mean fewer outbreaks and fewer school closures.
“So I like Secretary Stewart am very optimistic that we have the ability to be successful,” Scrase said.
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Attanasio is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. Follow Attanasio on Twitter.