PED rescinds order for Portales High

PORTALES — Since New Mexico public schools went to full re-entry April 5, just two schools have seen a mandatory two-week closure due to COVID-19 cases.

The most recent is Portales High School ... or it was Portales High School. The Public Education Department rescinded its mandate to close the school for two weeks Monday, after finding an error was made in its consideration of rapid responses.

Now the most recent is Yucca Middle School in Clovis. The PED announced Tuesday that Yucca, which closed voluntarily to in-person learning last Wednesday, reached its fourth rapid response and is required, as of Tuesday, to enter a mandatory 14-day closure.

Portales Superintendent Johnnie Cain, reached Tuesday morning, said the school would continue in remote learning through the week and anticipates the school will be down to one rapid response against the threshold by Saturday. Seniors will continue to operate in remote learning for the remainder of the year to protect events including the May 22 prom, the May 26 National Honor Society banquet and the May 28 graduation.

Under PED guidelines, a school is subject to a two-week closure if it has four rapid responses in a 14-day period. A rapid response is one or more positive cases at a school that were infectious while on campus.

Cain said at Monday night’s board meeting he was working on getting the PED decision reversed, because one of the positive cases occurred at the school’s daycare — which is considered a separate entity from the high school.

“It’s been rather frustrating to deal with,” Cain said Monday night.

In a letter to parents announcing the closure Friday, Cain said he did not believe there was an outbreak at the school. He said if a student or employee tests positive more than 48 hours after a rapid response is initiated, that positive test counts as a separate rapid response.

The district has had seven positive COVID-19 cases since April 21, five of which Cain said were traced back to one exposure.

Portales High can also resume athletics immediately, though Cain said in some cases opposing schools have already scheduled new opponents.

The first school to close under the rapid response directive was Eldorado High School in Albuquerque, which closed April 13 and resumed in-person instruction two weeks later.

Other schools across the state have voluntarily closed, either because they neared the four-in-14 threshold or simply didn’t want to take chances.

As for Yucca, the state announced its mandatory closing in the same press release in which it rescinded the mandatory closing of Portales High. The Tuesday morning release said New Mexico has 840 public schools and only two have been ordered to close because of rapid responses.

Clovis Superintendent Renee Russ did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on Tuesday.

Melrose entered a voluntary one-week remote learning period this week after three positive tests in two weeks. Also, Clovis High School’s senior class returned to remote learning April 30, in hopes the two-week move would preserve prom and graduation.

“Our system of safety protocols is, indeed, working to keep our schools and communities safe from unchecked COVID spread,” Education Secretary Ryan Stewart said. “Most New Mexico students have enjoyed the benefits of in-person learning uninterrupted since at least April 5, but we are prepared for brief spells of remote learning when needed and understand that will be the situation until the virus is finally defeated.”

The New Mexico Environment Department produces a watchlist of locations with two or more rapid responses. Monday’s list included 50 public schools, down from a high of 68 on Thursday.

A closure for rapid responses is isolated to the specific school campus, and does not apply to other campuses within a school district.