Teacher virus testing part of school reopening plan
Union leaders say they still have reservations about in-person hybrid model
Santa Fe Public Schools teachers and staff who will take part in the district’s modified hybrid-learning model should prepare to learn a new phrase: surveillance testing.
As part of the district’s plan to reintroduce elementary school students to the classroom in the hybrid model
Oct. 15, 5 percent of teachers and staff at schools will be tested weekly for the novel coronavirus. It is a requirement set out by the state’s Public Education Department, outlined in its COVID-19 guide for New Mexico schools.
Currently, district staff and teachers are not being tested, said district head nurse Anita Hett.
The education department’s guide states the intent of the testing requirement is to ensure all staff working at schools will be tested over the course of the year. It also says each school must have a “point person” who will determine teachers and staff members to be tested, coordinate their attendance for the test and track how many are administered on a weekly basis.
Superintendent Veronica García was not available for comment Wednesday, but Hett said the nurses at each elementary school will be the COVID-19 point person. She added tests will be done at the local office of the state Department of Health.
Hett said staff members taking part in surveillance testing will continue to work. The only time they will be required to stay home is if they exhibit COVID-19 symptoms.
The education department reported
Wednesday seven more COVID-19 cases at schools in the state, bringing the total to 192.
One of those cases was at Acequia Madre Elementary School, which has not yet opened to students. It was the 18th case in the district since the COVID-19 crisis began.
“We’ve had pretty good luck,” Hett said. “We’ve had a three- to four-day turnover [on test results] as of late.”
However, teachers union leaders have expressed concern about safety issues as schools open in parts of the state.
Grace Mayer, president of the National Education Association-Santa Fe, said she wonders why the school district hasn’t started testing employees who already are working in school buildings.
Mayer said there are limited staff members on-site, and some teachers are in their classrooms to teach remotely because of internet connectivity issues at home.
“I don’t know why this wasn’t implemented from the start of the school year,” Mayer said.
The education department made changes to its reopening guidelines in early September, but Mayer questioned
if, with workers receiving positive tests results four or five days after taking them, schools could face the prospect of an outbreak that might force them to close.
“Everybody is going to comply, but to me, is this really a rapid response test?” she asked. “Or is it going to take a week to 10 days?”
Mary Parr-Sanchez, president of the National Education Association-New Mexico, said the union recognizes coronavirus testing is required for public schools to open and teachers are required to take it as a condition of their employment. She likened testing to getting vaccinated.
“There are certain vaccinations that you have to have before you can come into school,” said Parr-Sanchez, a teacher in Las Cruces Public Schools.
However, she also expressed concern regarding the testing process. Parr-Sanchez said some teachers in southeastern New Mexico told her that they have to drive at least an hour to a testing site, wait several more hours for the test to be administered and sometimes get their results
almost a week later.
“That’s not very useful information,” Parr-Sanchez said.
Parr-Sanchez said districts need to better explain how schools will be cleaned, especially because most of them had custodial staff shortages before the pandemic.
“We have been short-handed with custodians for years in New Mexico, just like with everything else,” Parr-Sanchez said. “I don’t know how we are going to do this disinfecting and other things when we don’t even have enough custodians to sweep the floor, clean the boards and empty the trash. How are going to do disinfecting at the same time?”
Hett said she understands some of the concerns but noted that if employees and students follow the district guidelines, potential spread could be contained. She said the basics — mask-wearing, maintaining social distance and washing hands — can go a long way toward ensuring safety.
“We have learned through contact tracing from the positive tests that we had that when people are following the protocols, they are not getting it [the virus],” Hett said. “As long as we are not in close contact and are wearing our masks, we are preventing the spread in the schools.”