Portales board sets schooling plan

PORTALES — The 2020-21 school year in Portales will begin as a mix of in-school and at-home instruction.

That’s the plan for now, as approved Monday by the Portales Municipal Schools Board of Education, in a meeting held via web conference.

Superintendent Johnnie Cain said the district website would soon have the full plan posted, and there would also be a shorter document with highlights of the plans for in-person and remote re-entry. Included in the plans is language that gives Cain latitude to make changes as necessary should state directives require them.

The district is currently slated for staff development Aug. 10-14, an open house Aug. 14, first classes for grades 7-12 Aug. 18 and first classes for Pre-K to sixth grade Aug. 25.

“We would start school with Pre-K through sixth grade with all of the students coming (Tuesdays through Fridays),” Cain said.

“We worked on it, checked the sizes. It looks like we can social distance within the classroom. I believe our teachers can work out a plan in their buildings to maintain the social distancing. Most of them are basically self-contained classrooms or they’re team-teaching between two classrooms. (Students) don’t need to be moving around.”

The middle and high school students would be separated into one cohort that goes Tuesday-Wednesday in person and Thursday-Friday online; and another that goes Thursday-Friday in person and Tuesday-Wednesday online.

Students would be organized alphabetically to keep siblings in the same cohorts, but there will be some flexibility also.

Mondays will see all students working from home. It’s also a cleaning day for schools. Cain said Monday works better with the calendar because that’s when many holidays are anyway, and not having a cleaning day in the middle of the week would alleviate some childcare issues.

Teachers will be asked to do some spot cleaning in their classrooms, Cain said, and the district has ordered $100,000 in cleaning supplies.

The district is acquiring face shields for its teachers and neck gaiters for every student.

Board President Alan Garrett said he was concerned there would be a segment of people who wouldn’t wear face coverings properly just to “see what they can get away with,” to which Cain responded that everybody will have to abide by state guidelines on masks and how to wear them.

“I can put out guidance,” Cain said. “By us issuing a mask to everybody, it ought to be pretty simple to understand. We won’t make them wear the gaiter; if they want to wear a different mask, that’s fine.”

Students in all grades would have the option of online-only learning if they have any concerns, with Cain noting a recent survey of 600 families indicated 18% do not want to resume on-campus instruction.

Teachers for this model would be online-only, with Cain noting online instruction must have more rigor than it did in the spring when districts were forced into it and only expected to meet a pass-fail model as a tradeoff.

The district still plans to offer 90 minutes of afterschool sessions for kids they identify as needing extra help catching up from the spring semester. Bus transportation would be provided for those students, and Cain is hopeful that along with the cohort system it will help limit the number of kids on buses at the same time.

Board member Randy Rankin said he was at a planning meeting that included all schools and departments, and was impressed by the work that went into the meeting. He knows families will be frustrated by the details of the reopening, but said district employees were doing their best job with a difficult situation.

The Aug. 14 open house will not be held in the traditional way due to anticipated gathering restrictions, Cain said, but there would be some type of event.

In other business at the Monday meeting:

• The board approved salary schedules for the upcoming year, following guidance from lawmakers’ special session last month.

“We felt all along we did want to make sure our employees’ insurance costs are covered,” Cain said. “Insurance went up 6%; it was supposed to go to 8%. We factored it to where everybody got at least enough of an increase to cover those insurance costs.”

District Finance Director Sarah Stubbs said premium increases for the year totaled $487, so the district rounded up to $500 and increased salaries by that amount. The increase is a 1.39% average, Stubbs said, with employees making less than $50,000 seeing more than a 1% increase.

Cain is fearful of cuts in the 2021 regular session, as well.

“I know some of that’s going to have to filter down to the school districts,” Cain said. “I know the governor doesn’t want to touch that, but if the money’s not there it’s not there.”

• Athletic Director Mark Gallegos said Wednesday would be a big day for athletics and other extracurricular across the state, as the New Mexico Activities Association was scheduled to reveal its plan for offering sports and activities with many fall sports already delayed to the spring.

The district had offered three weeks of summer conditioning for high school athletes, and Gallegos said future weeks will depend on what the NMAA releases. He said he was disappointed the announcement about fall sports came from the governor’s office, as he felt it was the NMAA’s message to deliver.

“We’re going to do what’s best for kids,” Gallegos said. “We’re going to try to get them the opportunities they deserve. We’re fortunate to have a staff that works together, and we know they’ll work in different ways.”

• The board approved applications for federal bilingual education aid.

Federal Programs Director Rick Segovia said 445 students are signed up for bilingual education, 363 in elementary and 82 in grades 7-12.

• Cain said little in his superintendent’s report, noting he said most of what he planned to say during the rest of the meeting. He did note the district was working on insurance claims for hail damage to skylights at Portales Junior High and solar panels at Lindsey-Steiner Elementary.

• The board approved policies covering discrimination based on gender, with a key change coming in Title IX requirements. New requirements mean the district must have a Title IX coordinator and a Title IX investigator who aren’t the same person, and now it is a matter of finding who in the district will assume those duties.

• The next meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Aug. 10 at the district office.