Officials discuss first full day of in-person schooling

Officials during a Tucumcari school board meeting March 15 talked enthusiastically about the district’s first full day of in-person instruction earlier that day.

The landmark day followed weeks of the district using a hybrid model of online and in-person teaching because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before then, the middle school and high school used remote learning exclusively for months.

The day also marked a reduced number of Tucumcari students opting for online education.

Education Secretary Ryan Stewart announced the previous week all public schools in the state could fully reopen their campuses by April 5. The state is phasing out hybrid-learning models that combine in-person and remote learning in favor of full-time classroom teaching. Students who use remote learning can continue it.

Tucumcari Public Schools, which used a hybrid model in the elementary school since August and in the middle school and high school since early February, didn’t wait until April. The district returned all students to schoolroom instruction March 15 if they so desired.

Each of the schools’ principals gave reports during the board meeting, which was held via Google Meets, as it has for a year.

Elementary school principal Tonya Hodges, referring to her pupils, said: “I can’t tell you how heartwarming it was to hear their little voices say, ‘Mrs. Hodges, it’s you!’ There’s nothing more heartwarming to hear their laughter. All in all, we had a wonderful day.”

Middle school principal Lendall Borden said: “It was nice to get more back to normal. We had a good first day. It’s like starting school all over in a lot of ways.”

High school principal Nicole Bright-Lesly said: “It was good to see them laughing, acting like high-school kids.”

The only significant hiccup reported was a long line of vehicles dropping off students that morning at the middle school and especially the elementary school. Borden acknowledged the “arrival was not as smooth as expected.”

Board member Heather Gonzales speculated the long lines were caused by the poor design of the school layout, and superintendent Aaron McKinney agreed with that assessment. He said the district may have to “retrain” parents to unload and load their children in more manageable bunches.

Principals also noted a downtown in the number of remote-learning students during the first day back.

Borden said the number of his online students dropped by about 30.

Hodges said her total was about 37 and anticipated that number would continue to decline as more families choose to send their children back to school.

Bright-Lesly said about 25 high-school students have elected to remain online, and most of them or a parent have underlying health problems that put them at risk for COVID-19.

On a related note, technologist Patrick Benavidez said the district soon will install video cameras and interactive projectors in each classroom by the end of the school year or by summer to offer an online link to remote-learning students at home.

McKinney said the cameras and projectors aren’t required by the state, but he said he wants to give the remote-learning option for students so they still can be enrolled in the district.

“That’s why we did this,” he said. “We don’t want to lose students.”

In other business:

• McKinney said he is working with the district’s attorney to finish a contract to transfer the baseball and softball fields from the city. He said another survey will be required to finish the pact. The district plans to improve and redevelop those fields as part of a $3 million bond issue approved by voters in February 2020.

• The board approved the nominations of board members Bo Wallace and Theresa Gonzales to a committee for a New Mexico School Boards Association scholarship. McKinney said “chances are good” a Tucumcari student will win the award.

• Answering a question from Gonzales, Bright-Lesly said the district likely would keep its National Federation of High Schools sports livestream through at least basketball season and possibly track. Live footage of volleyball and football games are available through a monthly or yearly subscription. Games also are archived for future viewing.