Students returning in person to class

New Mexico education and health officials announced Monday that all public school students will be allowed to return to in-person schooling with a goal of reaching full re-entry by April 5.

A Public Education Department release stated that COVID-19 vaccines will be offered to all school staff members across the state over the course of the next three weeks in an attempt to allow staff and students to return in full as safely as possible. The release said more than 45,000 educators have registered to receive the vaccine with almost 15,000 of those already having received it. New Mexico has 50,864 K-12 school staff members.

A press release from Clovis Municipal Schools said the district will return to in-person learning in full on March 29, following spring break. The release said the change will put an end to hybrid learning, and parents will be left with the choice of in-person or remote learning for their child. Masks and social distancing will continue to be in place, and school buildings will be closed to families and the public.

“This is extremely welcome news and although it requires us to adapt yet again, we look forward to offering in-person school, five days per week, for all students,” CMS Superintendent Renee Russ said in an email statement. “In a district our size, there are many moving parts and adjustments that must be made to fully prepare for the return of all students.”

Russ said school staff moved furniture out of classrooms to meet hybrid requirements, but they will need to replace that furniture to support the increased numbers of students who will be attending. She said transportation routes and meal service protocols will need to be modified again, and “there may be necessary shifts in personnel based on numbers of current remote-only students who desire to return in person.”

Portales Municipal Schools Superintendent Johnnie Cain said the Portales school district plans to return its students to school in full on March 23, following the district’s spring break.

“We’re not going to force kids whose families aren’t ready for them to come back again, so we will still have the remote classes, but they are welcome to come back,” Cain said.

He said students will attend school Tuesday-Friday with Mondays still being set aside for cleaning.

“We’re pretty excited about it,” Cain said of returning to full in-person learning. “I was really shocked when I was told we were going back into full entry. I really didn’t expect it until next school year. Nothing has really changed other than all of the kids can come back. We still have to follow the same COVID safety guidelines.”

But that’s not to say there won’t be challenges with more students being back to in-person learning.

“It’s been a challenge. It’s still going to be a challenge. It will be a bigger challenge to social distance with all the kids back, but we plan to do the best that we can,” Cain said.

He said about a third of the district’s staff members have had COVID vaccines, and the district will recommend the rest of the staff members do the same.

“We feel like we are already very safe, because of the protocols we’ve been following and the cleaning we’ve been doing,” Cain said. “And hybrid (schooling) has taught us a lot with things to do or not to do to help with safety. It will be more difficult with all of the kids back, but I think it will be manageable.”

Cain said students’ temperatures will be taken before they enter the building, and everyone will also still wear masks and social distance. He said the district will be asking parents to bring their children to school themselves instead of putting them on the bus if they are able to in order to further help prevent exposure. He said HEPA filters are in about 135 classrooms with others having HVAC systems that will filter the virus out.

“The bigger challenge is going to just be trying to maintain that social distancing. It’s going to be different. Kids will want to congregate and be with their friends, but they will have to understand that they can’t do that,” Cain said.

He said with social distancing, buses and the lunchroom will be the biggest challenges, so the district will likely allow some students to eat outside.

“So, there’s going to be plenty of challenges, but we’ve learned a lot and I think we’re prepared for them,” Cain said. “The main thing I want people to know is that we are going to do this as safely as we can. We will work with parents, and we will let them know right away if there was any exposure with their kid. We can’t guarantee that a kid coming back won’t get it, but we will guarantee that we will do everything we can to prevent it.”