Logan raises remote learning concerns

The superintendent of Logan Municipal Schools, one of the best-performing districts in the region, said a substantial percentage of students using remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic are failing at least one class.

Logan superintendent Dennis Roch said during his academic report at the school board’s meeting Oct. 12 that one-third of the high school and 43% of middle school students are failing at least one class this semester.

That is in spite of the district receiving “A” or “B” grades from the state’s Public Education Department in the 2017-2018 school year, the most recent data available. Logan also was designated a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence last year.

Roch said the fault is not a lack of computer or internet access. He said some students work during the day and lack the time to complete their coursework when they log into their computers at night. In other cases, the students’ working parents are not at home to ensure classwork is being completed.

“We still have students who are not performing the way they’re capable of as when they’re in the building under the supervision of teachers,” he said.

Roch said school officials have reached out to parents and offered students ways to make up missing credits. However, he was concerned about the possibility of high-schoolers getting off-track to graduate on time.

Though Logan’s situation sounds bad, he said many districts in New Mexico are seeing 50% to 70% of their students failing at least one class in remote-learning environments.

Roch said he was drafting an online survey for parents about the district’s remote-learning programs to rectify the situation. He surmised many elementary students who opted into remote learning soon would be eager to return to in-person classes

When school board President Scott Osborn asked whether remote learning would erode New Mexico’s already-poor standing with education attainment, Roch said it would if in-person classes remained postponed.

“If learning in-person continues to be delayed, I think we’re going to cement ourselves at the bottom for a while,” Roch said.

Because neighboring states have fully opened schools and are playing sports, Roch said three seniors and three juniors have left the Logan district.

“That’s a permanent loss,” he said. “We won’t see them come back. Some of them won’t come back to New Mexico, and that’s truly sad.”

In her principal’s report, Crystal Burns said attendance also has been “not great” at parent-teacher conferences. She also mentioned “attendance issues” where students are not answering phones or emails. She said the district would offer a catch-up day for lagging students on Fridays via Zoom videoconferences.

In his superintendent’s report, Roch said he and other superintendents have been conveying their concerns about remote teaching and the importance of getting children back to school during meetings with Education Secretary Ryan Stewart and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

“While we applaud the passion for student safety … there are kids in New Mexico, including here in Logan, who are safer in school than out of school even if they risk getting COVID while they’re in class,” Roch said.

He said some children at home face problems with abuse, substance abuse by parents, depression and even suicide attempts.

“Those things are not survivable, where the COVID data shows survivability,” he said. He later added COVID-19’s survival rate for children is “far higher than the survival rate of someone who turns a gun on themselves.”

Only one child in New Mexico has died after contracting the virus, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports only about 75 child deaths of more than 7.7 million confirmed with the disease in the U.S.

State officials, while conceding the low risk of the virus to children, repeatedly have voiced concerns about teachers, parents and grandparents catching it from child carriers.

Roch said the governor was “noncommittal” on superintendents’ concerns but noted bipartisan interest in them from the New Mexico Legislature. He said he believed lawmakers would be successful in pressing Lujan Grisham to bend on some educational issues.

“I believe there’s a growing understanding we truly do have the kids’ best interests at heart,” he said. “I’m hopeful we can continue these conversations and get some relief.”

In the meantime, Roch said Logan Police Chief Rodney Paris and his officers would conduct welfare checks at households where students are struggling academically.

In other business:

• Roch said a middle-school room damaged by a water leak during a COVID-related school closure was discovered to have some asbestos in its tiles. He said that room would have to undergo asbestos remediation before repairs could proceed.

• The board approved addenda with transportation fleet and operator contracts to reflect the end of the school year as May 27, not May 21.

• The board discussed changes to a superintendent evaluation form filled out by district staff. Roch’s review is coming next month.

• The board heard a first reading of a policy review regarding the Attendance for Success Act and extracurricular activities.