NM Legislature

Senate confirms Romero to lead PED

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By Daniel J. Chacón, The Santa Fe New Mexican

The Senate unanimously confirmed the appointment Wednesday of Dr. Arsenio Romero as Cabinet secretary of the Public Education Department, the fourth person to lead the agency under the administration of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. “I’m here for the long haul,” Romero, a longtime educator, said during his initial confirmation hearing before the Senate Rules Committee. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to take on this challenge, and we’re going to steer this ship in the right direction,” he said. Senators lauded Romero as the right man for the job.

Quick Reads

Bill to provide free menstrual products at schools passes committee

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The House Education Committee unanimously passed a bill that will, if enacted, make menstrual products free in the public and charter schools in New Mexico. HB 134, sponsored by House Rep. Christine Trujillo, D-Albuquerque, appropriates $3 million from the general fund to the New Mexico Public Education Department to provide free menstrual products in the public schools and charter schools. The funds will be recurring but the Fiscal Impact Report states that the biggest cost would be the dispensers placed in the bathrooms, rather than the products. Once schools have bought and installed the dispensers, the program might require less money over time, the report says. The FIR also says that while 20 percent of teenagers, nationally, have difficulty affording menstrual products, that number rises to 25 percent for Hispanic teenagers.

Community schools

PED: Pandemic impacts will affect schooling going forward

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During the first twelve months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the academic school year was like no other. From March 2020 until April 2021, students in New Mexico public schools learned either remotely or through a hybrid model that included some in-person learning. Remote learning nationwide, on average, put more stress on women than men. According to a Marketplace-Edison Research Poll taken last fall of 1,647 individuals, 63 percent of the women polled said they were primarily responsible for helping kids with online school, compared to 29 percent of men. Several women told NM Political Report last year that they struggled with juggling their children’s online learning needs and the demands of their jobs.

Alisa Diehl

Yazzie-Martinez plaintiffs want court to order state to address remote learning issues

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The plaintiffs in a lawsuit over educational resources in New Mexico filed a request with the First Judicial District Court on Wednesday to order the state to provide computers and high-speed internet access to thousands of at risk students who lack tools for remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. An estimated 23 percent of the New Mexico population lacks broadband internet service, according to the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty (NMCLP). The nonprofit, which is providing legal counsel to the plaintiffs of the Yazzie-Martinez lawsuit, estimated that 80 percent of Native Americans living on tribal lands do not have internet services at all. Florena Valencia, of the San Felipe Pueblo, and her three daughters are one Native American family who lack internet at home. Valencia sat with her three daughters in her hot car in the warmer months while her children tried to learn remotely, she said.

Albuquerque Public Schools

School districts’ menstrual products part of state’s budget cuts

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The New Mexico State Legislature approved $170,000 for menstrual products for some New Mexico public and charter schools for Fiscal Year 2021. But because of the recent state budget crisis, the legislature trimmed the state budget for menstrual products in the schools to $141,190 during the recent special legislative session, said Deborah Martinez, media relations coordinator for New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED). This will affect 57 schools and school districts in the state. The grant awards vary, ranging from $500 allocated to the Albuquerque Sign Language Academy to $26,963 provided to Rio Rancho Public Schools. Martinez said NMPED hasn’t sent out the new award notifications yet to the schools affected.

New Mexico Public Education Department

Judge denies PED motion to dismiss Yazzie/Martinez suit

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The plaintiffs in a long-running court case on New Mexico’ education funding and policies were dealt two wins on Monday. State district judge Matthew Wilson denied a motion by the state to dismiss a pending years-old lawsuit against the New Mexico Public Education Department that said the state did not do enough to provide an adequate education to students. 

Wilson’s ruling means the court will continue to monitor the case until a complete overhaul of the state’s education system is complete. Wilson also approved a motion from the plaintiffs to allow further discovery in the case to gauge how much improvement the state has made since a court order in 2018. “There is a lack of evidence in this case that the defendants have substantially satisfied this court’s express orders regarding all at risk students,” Wilson said. “The court’s injunction requires comprehensive educational reform that demonstrates substantial improvement and that these students are actually college or career ready.”

Monday’s hearing was the latest in the ongoing case that involves two different lawsuits filed against PED in 2014.

coronavirus

‘Zoom bombs’ create a concern for distance learning in NM

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For the past several weeks, people all over the country have flocked to online meeting platforms in an attempt to stay connected with both friends and coworkers amid the global COVID-19 pandemic that has resulted in a number of mandatory shelter in place orders. 

But as more people use virtual meeting platforms like Google or Zoom, there are reports of increased malicious activity, which is now known to some as “Zoom-bombing.” Meetings around the country have reportedly been interrupted with unknown users who use racist language or share pornographic material. 

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission experienced its first “Zoom bomb” on Wednesday when, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican, an unknown individual used offensive language before a loud mix of talking and noises led to an abrupt end to the meeting. 

Albuquerque Public Schools

NM school districts prepare for new plans for the last weeks of school

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Many parents across New Mexico will start this week with questions and concerns about their children’s education after the state’s Public Education Department last week announced schools will be closed through May. But to keep students engaged and to justify not making up missed weeks of school, PED has asked all school districts to submit an educational plan. A looming special legislative session to balance the state’s books, a large number of rural school districts in the state and cash-strapped schools adds to the uncertainty of student access and expectations. But the agency said parents should not panic about access to computers or not being able to take on the role of a teacher. 

PED spokeswoman Nancy Martira told NM Political Report that the agency is fully aware of the many challenges families are faced with. 

“We are asking educators to keep in mind that many families have limited data, minimal access to the Internet, and one device which must be shared between multiple people,” Martira said. She said PED does not expect parents to sit with their children for eight hours a day.

Quick Reads

State to announce extension of public school closure on Friday

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The state will announce an extension of the closure of public schools on Friday, according to the state Public Education Department. The department made the announcement on social media. The initial closure would have ended on April 6. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and PED Secretary Ryan Stewart will make the announcement alongside the New Mexico Department of Health on Friday morning, with answers to questions online. “The final determination of the scope of the closure period will be done this afternoon, after examining extensive plans among different state agencies,” the PED statement said.

coronavirus

Guv announces four new positive COVID-19 cases, plus updates on school closures

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During a press conference Friday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced four additional confirmed positive tests for COVID-19 in New Mexico, bringing the state’s total to 10. According to the Department of Health three of the new cases were a household contact with one of the initial six cases. Two of the 10 infected people have been hospitalized, said a DOH official. 

All positive tests are sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for confirmation. The four new cases were announced the morning after the state’s Public Education Department announced that all public schools in the state would close for three weeks starting March 16. 

Related: Here’s where APS students can get a meal while schools are closed

Lujan Grisham assured the public that imperative services like meals and child care will not be interrupted, although she said specifics have not been locked down yet and the whole process will be dynamic. 

“Yesterday school was open. Monday they’re closed,” Lujan Grisham said.