[LWVNM Action] NM is facing huge EDUCATION Challenges-COVID CASES already showing up!! ZOOM going down!- LESC meeting continues tomorrow morning.

Tue Aug 25 16:32:02 MDT 2020

LESC meetings are going on through tomorrow noon. Agenda is attached.  You
can go to watch livestream and webcasts  <https://www.nmlegis.gov/>
https://www.nmlegis.gov/ 
 http://sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00293/harmony August 25
<http://sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00293/harmony%20August%2025> , This morning's
webcast is very helpful 

 <https://newmexicoschools.com/> https://newmexicoschools.com/ All the data
you need on individual NM's schools from last year show extremely low math
proficiency rates and less than adequate reading proficiency.  "NEW MEXICO
VISTAS" is an improvement in terms of transparency and ease of accessing
data dashboards, but LESC challenges PED to focus on raising academic
achievement.  New learning management systems for schools are being
implemented, and PED has moved from a punitive approach  to a partnership
model with the schools.

The Every Student Succeeds Act requires each state to submit report cards
with a number of factors, such as differences in budget allocations and
spending in districts and individual schools and the results of annual
proficiency tests. NM received one of the federal government's one-year
waivers in terms of accountability testing because of the pandemic. No high
stakes tests were held in the spring 2020, and probably none will be held in
spring 2021. While that may be a relief to teachers, administrators, and
families because of our tremendous teaching and learning challenges,
especially because everything is online and caretakers have had become
coaches in the home.  PED is committed to increasing multicultural
resources, but how many students can and will access them? 

Some districts have been more successful than others in providing students
with tablets and Internet hot spots and other access, but NM is severely
challenged by lack of broadband infrastructure.  Yesterday, Zoom went out
across the country for many hours during school time. How often will this
happen? NM's kids will fall further behind unless we are creative and
committed. 

Please see NM's Kids Count profile for 2020.  We are last in education and
child well-being. We must invest in schools and families if we are to
improve our rankings, our economy, and most importantly our quality of life.

*****************

ABQ Journal  Tuesday, August 25th, 2020 at 12:02am
SANTA FE - Coronavirus cases have surfaced at dozens of school and education
sites in New Mexico this month, even without the return of traditional
in-person classes, according to state records.
They've popped up across the state, from Albuquerque to Artesia, triggering
the temporary closure of school buildings, contact tracing and deep
cleaning.
Records published by the state Environment Department - which helps oversee
rapid-response testing of employers - show schools have reported about 50
positive tests among employees at more than 30 locations since Aug. 1.
For school leaders, it's been a preview of the challenges they might face
when in-person classes resume.
<https://www.abqjournal.com/1489821/coronavirus-cases-surfacing-at-nm-school
s.html/virus-numbers-aug-25>
https://d3el53au0d7w62.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/24/virus-nu
mbers-Aug-25-300x203.png
Dennis Roch, superintendent of Logan Municipal Schools, said his district
heard from three state agencies - the departments of Health, Environment and
Public Education - after an employee tested positive earlier this month.
Each agency, he said, responded at its own pace, some taking days to follow
up.
"There's three separate agencies I'm reporting to, answering a lot of the
same kinds of questions from each," Roch said in an interview. "It raises a
question about how rapid is the response under this 'rapid response,' and is
the response even coordinated among different agencies?"
State officials, in turn, say their multiagency approach provides a thorough
response when schools report a COVID-19 infection.
In an interview, Public Education Secretary Ryan Stewart said the Department
of Health initiates "robust case investigation and support and contact
tracing work," with follow up from the Public Education Department.
"We try to see it as kind of one integrated system, where we each have a
role," Stewart said.
Now that schools are starting back up, he said, thePED's role is to maintain
contact with schools and make sure processes are in place to contain the
virus and reopen safely. When an employee tests positive, Stewart said, the
department helps the school make decisions about closure, cleaning and
reopening.
"Our No. 1 priority is to make sure that if we find a case," Stewart said,
"we are able to contain it and isolate it. And so the top thing that we have
to do right now is keep getting case rates down so that we don't see
outbreaks in schools, and we don't have to have schools open and then close
and then reopen."
Numbers dropping
The number of new coronavirus cases detected in New Mexico each day has
plunged over the past month - from a peak average of 330 cases a day in the
week that ended July 29 to 138 a day in the week that ended Monday,
according to a Journal analysis.
The state's goal is to keep its seven-day rolling average of cases to 168 or
below.
New Mexico, in fact, complies with all of its reopening criteria - a set of
standards on how quickly the disease is spreading, testing capacity, the
supply of medical equipment and hospital beds, and other factors.
The state reported just 76 more coronavirus cases Monday and two deaths,
continuing the sharp downward trend in new infections over the past month.
The two fatalities pushed the statewide death toll to 747 since the pandemic
hit New Mexico in March.
The victims reported Monday were both men - one in his 80s from Lea County,
the other in his 60s from McKinley County. The younger man had an underlying
health condition, a risk factor for the disease.
In-person classes
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's administration has instructed public schools
to avoid traditional in-person classes through Labor Day, at least. Health
officials have discussed allowing elementary school students to return to
campus a few days a week after that.
But no final decision has been made on when, or how, to resume in-person
learning.
Some districts - including Albuquerque and Santa Fe public schools - have
already said they plan to continue distance learning beyond Sept. 8, even if
the state permits some in-person classes.
State Rep. Christine Trujillo, an Albuquerque Democrat and chairwoman of the
Legislative Education Study Committee, said she is worried about whether
schools will have enough staff and supplies to adequately clean classrooms
or replace employees who must enter quarantine.
Parents "are struggling right now with day care and support systems," said
Trujillo, a retired teacher. "For them to have (school) off and on again
anytime a kid or employee gets sick is just overwhelmingly problematic."
Roch, the Logan superintendent and a former Republican state legislator from
eastern New Mexico, is more confident about the possibility of safely
returning to in-person learning. Keeping students in smaller groups and
preventing the mixing of large populations, he said, can limit the
opportunity for spread of the disease.
The scale of any shutdown triggered by a positive test will depend on how
many people were potentially exposed and other factors.
"I think schools are going to be pretty nimble in those responses - because
we have to," Roch said. "We're doing everything we can to keep it safe."
Cases at APS
As with other employers, coronavirus cases are hitting school sites
throughout New Mexico. In Bernalillo County, for example, Albuquerque Public
Schools has reported at least 10 positive tests among employees to the state
this month, including cases at West Mesa High, Hawthorne Elementary and
Hayes Middle schools.
Acting APS Superintendent Scott Elder told lawmakers in July that districts
needed better coordination from state agencies. A positive test by an
employee is reported through the Occupational Health and Safety Bureau at
the Environment Department, he said, and a student who's infected would be
reported through the Department of Health.
"The two agencies operate under different guidelines," Elder told lawmakers,
"and they react differently."
An APS spokeswoman said Monday that the state has made some adjustments
since July to address Elder's concerns.
At least one school employee who tested positive has been reported in Santa
Fe, Socorro, Roswell, Rio Rancho, Clovis and Hobbs, among other communities.
Artesia Superintendent J.R. Null said his district closed a building
Thursday through the weekend for deep cleaning after a positive test.
"We've been fortunate that the New Mexico Department of Health
epidemiologists have been responsive," he said, "and they've been helpful in
providing us with guidance."
Roch said Logan Municipal Schools is ready to meet the challenges of
in-person learning. But it's critical, he said, that the Public Education
Department have a standard plan communicated to districts and charter
schools for responding to virus cases.
"Every school leader is going to face this exact situation in the near
future," Roch said.
Roch may know better than most. He contracted the virus earlier this month -
probably through exposure to the first employee who tested positive - and
entered self-isolation.
Roch said he made a full recovery. 

Meredith Machen
League of Women Voters of New Mexico

 <tel:505-577-6337> 505-577-6337 c
 <mailto:projects at lwvnm.org> projects at lwvnm.org
 <mailto:meredith.machen at gmail.com> meredith.machen at gmail.com

Empowering Voters - Defending Democracy

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.swcp.com/pipermail/action/attachments/20200825/b0451ca6/attachment-0001.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.png
Type: image/png
Size: 75305 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.swcp.com/pipermail/action/attachments/20200825/b0451ca6/attachment-0001.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: ALESC 071520 Item 2 .1 - Student Access to Technology - PSFA (1).pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 2798079 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.swcp.com/pipermail/action/attachments/20200825/b0451ca6/attachment-0003.pdf>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: ALESCageAug24.20.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 143460 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.swcp.com/pipermail/action/attachments/20200825/b0451ca6/attachment-0004.pdf>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: NM-Kids Count profile-2020.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 175906 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.swcp.com/pipermail/action/attachments/20200825/b0451ca6/attachment-0005.pdf>