GRANTS, N.M. — Grants/Cibola County School District officials considered returning to hybrid instruction at the Jan. 19 board meeting. The lengthy discussion splintered the five-member board.
Vice President Richard Jones and Secretary Dion Sandoval voted in favor of returning elementary students to hybrid learning. Two members, Emily Hunt-Dailey and Dr. Guy Archambeau, voted “no.” Board President Ron Ortiz’ tiebreaking vote, the third “no,” was the deciding factor.
The district will re-evaluate the success of the distance-learning format at the end of 30 days.
Superintendent Max Perez emphasized that the district does not have the option to return to 100 percent in-class instruction because existing school buildings cannot meet the social distancing standards mandated by the New Mexico Public Education Department.
Districts such as G/CCSD that have met specific health benchmarks can opt to provide hybrid learning (50 percent instructionperson in-and 50 percent virtual) for kindergarten through sixth grade students under the NMPED rules. Having their students remain in distance-learning is always an available option for families; some families in Cibola County stayed with virtual instruction even after the hybrid format became available on Oct. 19.
The district returned all elementary students to virtual learning on Nov. 30 after several sites reported multiple positive tests. This resulted in a lot of confusion, commented the board president.
“Families had to deal with open/closed/open situations and that made it very stressful,” said Ortiz.
Members Jones and Sandoval stressed the emotional impact that has resulted from the pandemic and the negative effects, such as the lack of social opportunities for students to interact face-to-face in a classroom.
The board and administrative staff agreed that some students do not have safe family settings. They acknowledged that personal interactions among peers and teachers remains an important aspect of mental health for students, their families, and instructional staff.
Member Hunt-Dailey pointed out that vaccinating employees is integral to returning students to the classroom setting; she commented that no vaccine is 100 percent effective. Hunt-Dailey stressed that current data shows that people who have been vaccinated may still contribute to community spread because the individuals may be asymptomatic. Jones and Ortiz emphasized that the district cannot mandate employee vaccinations. Board members and the superintendent unanimously agreed that the most important criteria for returning to hybrid instruction is insuring students’ and employees’ safety.
Instruction for middle and high school students statewide must remain in the virtual format at this point, according to Superintendent Perez who reiterated that the goal is to return all students to in-classroom settings.
The superintendent reported that students and staff had recorded a total of 99 COVID-19 cases between August 10 and Jan. 19. He acknowledged that there were 48 cases in those younger than 18; those aged 40-64 years were the next largest group who reported positive cases; the 18-39-year-old group had slightly fewer positive tests; and three cases were identified in the 65-84 age group.
(The district website, https://www.gccs.k12.nm.us/home, reported 22 cases so far this month; these numbers were part of the total, 107 positive tests, identified in the Jan. 25 data.)
District Health Department Coordinator Sonya Hernandez has worked with employees and helped interested staff in scheduling vaccination appointments with the New Mexico Department of Health, Grants office. The superintendent noted that 370 staff members plan to be vaccinated; the district has more than 500 employees added Perez.
The lengthy meeting, which lasted more than three hours, included an executive session for the superintendent evaluation that began shortly after 7:30 p.m.
Upcoming meetings
• Tuesday, Feb. 2, an electronic meeting via Zoom, 5:30 p.m. Visit https://www.gccs.k12.nm.us/ or call 505-285-2603 for more information.
• Tuesday, Feb. 16, an electronic meeting via Zoom, 5:30 p.m. Visit https://www.gccs.k12.nm.us/ or call 505-285-2603 for more information.