School profiles launch for public

Department looking for feedback, including suggestions for improvement

The state Public Education Department has rolled out the online site with school profiles, or “dashboards,” that showcase school-specific information for public viewing.

PED Deputy Secretary Tim Hand said the school pages, which are housed on the portal New Mexico Vistas, include data outlined in the state’s education plan, which shifted New Mexico from A-F school grades to this new model.

Individual schools’ academic proficiency rates, the percentage of students who regularly attended school and per-student expenditures are on the site.

Hand said there is a profile for every K-12 public school in the state, reflecting figures from the 20182019 school year.

The platform, found at newmexicoschools.com,

has data on both school and district levels.

While the data on the platform is finalized, Hand added that the department is looking for families’ feedback, asking whether the website is easy to use and what other details families want to know about their school.

On Thursday, the PED also announced that it’s seeking input on distance learning.

When schools shut down due to COVID-19, educators had to implement Continuous Learning Plans to keep students learning outside of the classroom.

Families are asked to fill out a survey about that experience here: https://tripod.sjc1.qualtrics.com/ jfe/form/SV_08JAHrqU9z7YRvv.

The results will help inform a newly formed group called the “New Mexico School Reentry Task Force,” which is looking at how schools could reopen for the 2020-21 school year.

“The public health situation is still changing too quickly for us to develop a single plan for return to school,” Education Secretary Ryan Stewart said in a statement. “We’ll be looking to our School Reentry Task Force to contribute their perspective and help shape a number of contingency plans for a safe return to school.”