Education

SANTA FE, New Mexico — Public school students in New Mexico will not return to classrooms or athletic fields during the current academic year due to the coronavirus, the state's top education official announced Friday.

Public Education Secretary Ryan Stewart called the decision to extend a classroom shutdown painful. He explained that students are likely to be graded for remote coursework on a pass-fail basis. High school seniors will be able to graduate through a “demonstration of competency” that may includes a series of assignments, and tests including a college entrance exam — New Mexico's student assessment tool for high school students. (You can watch the Public Education Department's web conference with the media in the video player at the bottom of this article.)

Appearing alongside state Cabinet secretaries for Indian affairs and childhood wellbeing, Stewart stressed that school health centers and counseling services will continue to be available with safety precautions, as the state distributes lunches and breakfasts to more than 100,000 children.

“This is not something that we would wish on anybody,” Stewart said. “We are going to stand by our kids even when we are at a social distance.”

He said that rites of spring such as proms and graduation ceremonies should take place, even if they are delayed by several months. Athletics won't resume before fall.

The state is supporting a “continuous learning” program with between one hour of instructional time a day for first graders and up to three hours in grades 6-12, as it distributes academic toolkits to families.

The transition to remote teaching presents daunting challenges in a state that lags behind much of the nation in terms of access to computers and functional internet connections.

The state already has received a waiver from the federal government to suspend requirements for some student academic assessments and minimum annual instructional hours. Advanced placement tests will be shortened to include coursework performed through March.

Obligations toward special education students have not been modified, even as officials acknowledge that remote, online programs may not be feasible for some students. There are no layoffs of furloughs planned for public school staff.

The PED's learn-at-home plan provided to reporters on Friday included these provisions: