N.M. public schools to close for three weeks, starting Monday

SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, the New Mexico Public Education Department and the New Mexico Department of Health on Thursday announced that New Mexico K-12 public schools will close for three weeks beginning Monday in response to the ongoing international novel coronavirus pandemic. The closure will begin at the end of the school day on Friday.

Gov. Lujan Grisham and state officials will hold a 10 a.m. Friday news conference to provide more details. The conference can be streamed at http://www.facebook.com/GovMLG and a notice with additional details will be released after the conference.

“We are advising the public of this forthcoming announcement tonight so that parents and students can prepare for this upcoming change and begin to make arrangements,” Gov. Lujan Grisham said in a release. “We will be informing the public of additional measures that the state will be taking to ease the burden on families and educators and ensure that children continue to be fed and cared for.”

As of Thursday evening, New Mexico has had six presumptive positive tests for COVID-19.

State Cabinet secretaries’ ongoing work of developing telework policies specific to their agencies will not be affected by this decision; state government services will remain in place at this time.

“This is a proactive measure to limit the potential community spread of COVID-19,” said Education Secretary Ryan Stewart. “We have seen other states take this measure after they have experienced community spread of this virus. New Mexico is going to be proactive and do everything we can to prevent the potential spread of the virus. I have been in communication with all of our superintendents about this proactive step, and we are all going to work together to address this public health challenge.”