CIBOLA COUNTY, N.M. – With the governor coming out with new orders regarding COVID-19 protocols, many schools, hospitals, businesses, and more are trying to adjust and even prepare for what might be coming. Grants/Cibola County Schools are doing the same.
According to Grants/Cibola County Schools Superintendent Max Perez, who has been the GCCS superintendent for nearly three years, Grants/Cibola County Schools were already on the ball and ahead of the curve because the GCCS school board had already voted to administer an indoor mask mandate for all students and staff going into the 2021-2022 schoolyear. This limited the amount of adjusting the schools had to do in response to the recent health order.
As for vaccination policies, Grants/Cibola County Schools are also adhering to the part of the governor’s order which requires “all workers at private, public and charter schools in New Mexico either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or otherwise submit to COVID-19 testing on a weekly basis.” The school district also already had a ‘be vaccinated or get tested’ policy heading into the school year, but the only difference was that they were going to require COVID testing every two weeks, instead of every week as the statewide mandate requires. They will update their policy to align with the state’s. This policy does not apply to students.
GCCS is also staying on top of all other aspects related to providing education during a pandemic, such as cleaning, close contact protocols, and technological services for students. According to Perez, Grants/Cibola County Schools are continuing to use the same COVID-safe practices and cleaning strategies they have used throughout the entire pandemic. Recently though, they did purchase a plethora of cleaning supplies, including disinfecting misters. The janitorial staff has been trained to use such cleaning equipment and is dedicated to keeping schools clean and safe as usual, Perez said.
Any areas deemed as possibly being exposed to infection are thoroughly disinfected. As far as maintaining the spread of infection goes, GCCS is following Public Education Department’s (PED) guidelines and protocols. The New Mexico PED COVID tool kit provides definitions for close contact cases and protocols for reporting that GCCS is following closely. The definitions vary from student to adult staff, but an example for students is being three feet away from a COVID-compromised individual for a cumulative total of 15 minutes within a 24-hour period. “Very defined reporting procedures” are also followed, said Perez; close contact incidents are then reported to the state in order to comply with contact tracing, and compromised persons are informed.
Finally, Perez talked about efforts from the school district’s technology departments to reach out to several local internet service providers to see who can best help the schools to offer services to families who do not have as easy access to them and are farther out of reach. This is especially important considering the imminent possibility that GCCS, like many other New Mexico schools, will have to switch to remote learning.
“It’s our highest hope that we remain face-to-face for the entire schoolyear, but the reality is that it’s more likely that, with the cases rising, we may be closing schools if needed,” said Perez. “We’re hoping that if we do have to switch to remote, virtual learning, that we’ll have all of our necessary systems in place. We’re a little bit more prepared than we were the first time; it hit us by surprise. Students have devices now and teachers are very knowledgeable and fluent with the online learning platforms.”
When asked if Perez had any other thoughts for the community in the midst of this ongoing battle with COVID, Perez added, “We talk a lot nowadays about being flexible and agile. We know we may have to switch modes without notice. But I think it’s important for the families and community to know that we’re remaining steadfast and determined with our academic programs.”