During the presentation of it’s $3.34 billion budget proposal – the single largest part of the state budget – Public Education Department Secretary Ryan Stewart told members of the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee he hopes New Mexico schools will be able to have children in classrooms starting next fall, but that it’s not up to him.
“Do you have a sense or a feeling what school will look like in fall of ‘21 with regard to in-person instruction?” NMLFC Committee member Sen. Gay Kernan, R-Hobbs, asked Stewart. “What is your thought on that?”
“My sincere hope is that our fall looks much more like the normal. That we’re fully back and that we’ve beaten this pandemic back as far as we can take it,” Stewart responded. “I think there are certain things we don’t want to lose that have happened because of the pandemic. So, we’ve built up skills around technology. I think we should still continue to leverage that, even as we do bring kids back for more in person instruction.
“I think the connections between teachers and families right now is stronger than it’s ever been, based on the ways school has been coming into the home and we’ve been much more connected. … I think this pandemic is going to make us really think about how we think about critical elements of education – everything from seat time and what the profile and therefore graduation requirements of a New Mexico student are, how we better connect with applied learning experiences.”
Kernan then redirected Stewart.
“I think what I’m trying to ask you is if you have any sense of whether the medical team is going to make a recommendation to change the criteria for opening counties which in fact leads to the reopening of schools. Currently, a district or county has to meet the 5 percent positivity rate, or you have to be at eight positives average per day,” Ker-nan said. “In light of what’s going on right now, when many counties are experiencing from 90 to 120 positives per day, we’re very, very far from meeting the criteria currently in place. … If don’t change the criteria, and move towards opening our schools in person, as many states across this country have done, do you anticipate that we’re still going to be in a hybrid model in fall of ‘21?”
“My thinking is that we will be back in person in fall of ‘21,” Stewart said. “I am not a member of the medical advisory team or a doctor, so I certainly would not propose to speak for them … but from where I sit now, and you can take it with a grain of salt because I’m not a doctor, I think we’re going to be back in person in the fall of 21. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. It all really depends on the course of the virus and what the risks are as we move forward.”
Committee member Rep. Phelps Anderson, R-Roswell, also asked about getting students back in schools.
“Where do you get your medical evidence, your scientific evidence that shows that New Mexico children are better off out of school than in school?” Anderson asked.
“In the interest of being short, with our public health officials and medical advisory team,” Stewart said.
Anderson also asked if there was scientific or medical evidence that cancelling all sports and outdoor activities was in the best interest of school children.
“I would defer that to the medical advisory team,” Stewart said. “I can tell you that they have taken a comprehensive look at proposals around sports and the impact.”
Anderson also mentioned there is speculation that schools will be closed until August of 2021.
“You won’t hear that from me. I certainly want our kids back in school much sooner than that. We do have to follow medical science, but I am not saying nine months. I’m hopeful that we get there much sooner than that,” Stewart said.
“Do you believe New Mexico students are better off today, or were they better off a year ago in their education?” Anderson pressed.
“We’re all better off pre-pandemic,” Stewart said. “The effects of this pandemic have been just terrible on all sides.”
And, it wasn’t just southeastern New Mexico legislators asking when students will get back in class. Rep. Rebecca Dow, R-Truth or Consequences, noted Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization studies saying the safest place for children is in-person learning, in schools, and have updated those organizations’ guidance to open schools that have been closed.
Stewart said the decision to reopen schools isn’t his alone.
“The medical advisory team has been taking a lot of the lead in combing all of the data,” Stewart said. “One thing that I would add to this particular question right now is that the most recent surge that we’ve had in the virus here has overwhelmed many of our hospitals. I think it’s complicated a lot of our efforts to expand the ability for more in-person learning given where we are. … the work of the advisory team really does drive a lot of the school decisions.”
