February 1, 2021
Despite misgivings, students, staff back return to classrooms Written by Dean Thompson on February 1, 2021
The Silver Schools Board of Education has already given the green light for its secondary schools to move into the hybrid model.
The district’s elementary schools have been in and out of hybrid instruction where 50 percent of the student population is in the classroom two days a week, alternating with the other half of students in online classes since before the holiday break.
The Cobre School District never went into a hybrid mode in its elementary schools, however.
Last week, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the New Mexico Public Education Department announced that they will allow all districts to enter the hybrid mode in all grades Feb. 8, as long as all of the state’s guidelines are met.
The Roswell Independent School District Board of Education will have a special meeting Tuesday to consider starting in-person instruction and extracurricular activities. In her state-of-the-state address Tuesday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said all public schools would be allowed Feb. 8 to shift to hybrid learning no matter what level their counties are in according to […]
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High school athletes across the state this week got an injection of hope that there will indeed be games to play this spring after nearly a year of COVID-19 restrictions.
But while the decision makers made clear that could happen – from the Governor announcing the green light on a return to in-person learning on Feb. 8 to the Public Education Department and the New Mexico Activities Association essentially confirming a tentative start date of Feb. 22 for high school sports – there hadn’t been talk about how that could be so within the parameters of the existing public health order.
After all, a return to in-person learning at high schools only solves half the equation for a return to the fields and courts. A public health order remains in place that prohibits mass gatherings like practices and games.
“Today is a great day,” NMAA executive director Sally Marquez said.
It has been 10 1/2 months – March 14 – since the last high school sporting event in New Mexico.
“It’s been a long road. We know it has not been easy to adjust to the restrictions we have had to put in place,” said New Mexico PED Secretary Ryan Stewart said.
In March, few believed that the pandemic would still be raging into 2021. In the interim, athletes and coaches have been agonizing throughout, searching for any sign of a return. That made Tuesday the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.