Teachers want to work remotely; parents split

Survey results show educators, staff favor remote learning over hybrid model or full reentry

A slight majority of faculty and staff at Santa Fe Public Schools would prefer to stay home and teach remotely in the new school year, while parents are more evenly split between online learning, a full return to classrooms and a hybrid model that combines the two, according to survey results released Monday.

“I knew it was going to be a mixed bag,” Superintendent Veronica García said of the survey, a gauge of preferences for how to move forward with education during an ongoing public health crisis.

“I was hoping it would match up fairly closely so we could meet the needs of both parents and staff,” García added.

More students in grades 4-12 who responded to the survey said they favor a full-time return to schools than those who favor either of the other two options. That might be wishful thinking.

As cases of the novel coronavirus continue to surge, the outlook for reopening New Mexico’s public schools in August is becoming increasingly bleak.

The new survey results also come as the Santa Fe district announced two workers in its Facilities and Maintenance Department tested positive for the coronavirus over the weekend.

School officials issued the survey late last month after the state Public Education Department released its recommendations for safely reopening classrooms. At the time, the virus’s transmission rate had dropped to lower than 1, and officials were cautiously optimistic the pandemic was on the decline.

For the past three weeks, however, cases have been rising at a rate of more than 1,500 per week — including an increasing number of infections in school-age children. The troubling trend has raised concerns among the governor and state health officials.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham reinstated some business restrictions Thursday and warned that New Mexico schools would not reopen if the numbers didn’t start to decline.

In the four days since her announcement, the state has reported more than 1,000 new cases. Santa Fe County, where the rate of new infections also is on the rise, saw its highest daily count yet — 20 cases — in that time.

Lujan Grisham said the state will decide within the next week or so whether it is safe to reopen schools.

García said the Santa Fe district is tentatively planning to reopen Aug. 17.

“The plan is to be able to move between the three models, to adapt and respond to the pandemic,” she said.

The district’s survey asked parents, teachers and students to choose between the three models recommended by the Public Education Department: full remote learning, full in-person learning or the hybrid option, in which half the students at a school would be on campus Mondays and Tuesdays, the school would close Wednesdays, and the other students would attend Thursdays and Fridays. On the days students remain at home, they would complete lessons online.

The district said in a news release that 74 percent of faculty and staff responded to the survey, compared with 46 percent of parents and 28 percent of eligible students.

According to the results, 51 percent of teachers and staff prefer remote learning, while 32 percent prefer the hybrid model and 17 percent want a full return to in-person learning.

The rates were nearly flipped for participating students: 23 percent prefer to continue learning from home, 32 percent desire a hybrid model and 45 percent seek a full return to their schools.

When it came to parents, 32 percent want to keep their kids at home, 34 percent want a hybrid and 34 percent favor sending their kids to school full time.

Before any public school district or charter school in the state can reopen to students and staff, it needs approval from the state Department of Health. So far, the agency has not given any school permission to reopen.

Districts also must submit their reopening plans to the Public Education Department. The deadline is Wednesday, but García said Santa Fe Public Schools has received an extension until July 20.

Grace Mayer, president of the National Education Association-Santa Fe, said she thinks a return to normal is not realistic under the current conditions of the pandemic, and the optimistic responses of parents and students hoping for a full return to classes are misleading.

“I think the numbers are a little skewed for parents and students — like, ‘Yeah, of course we want to go back to in-person class five days a week with no masks and no social distancing, so we can eat and play sports together like normal,’ “Mayer said.

But, she added, “We don’t believe that even the hybrid model is appropriate right now. We need to open safely, and I don’t think we can do that with the increased rates of infections around the city.”

At a special meeting Thursday night, school board members will hold a closeddoor discussion on a collective bargaining deal with NEA-Santa Fe that will outline the working conditions under which faculty and staff would agree to return to campus.

“I see what’s happening with the trend line of COVID cases in New Mexico, and even more worrying in the surrounding states,” school board President Kate Noble said Monday.

“I don’t think there are any easy answers now, and maybe not for a long time,” Noble said, “but the key to this extraordinary challenge is to remain flexible and responsive to everybody who is involved in the public schools.”