By: Miranda Huerta
With a surge in COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant, a familiar feeling of dread appears to have washed over APS as they scramble to come up with a way to keep schools safe. So far, what APS has provided simply leaves far too much to be desired.
Posted on Jan. 3rd, 2021, an enhanced COVID safety plan was made available on the official APS website. To be briefly summarized, this protocol was a layered approach to COVID safety, in which it stated that if a school had 3% of its population infected, district personnel would conduct a site visit and strongly encourage the implementation of enhanced safety practices. If a school reached 5% of its population infected, then enhanced Covid safe practices would be required.
While the plan itself continually repeated the circumstances in which enhanced covid safety practices would be applied, the document provided about the practices themselves was limited in information. Specifically, the document was limited in information regarding remote learning.
The document mentioned remote learning or a hybrid school model twice.
Though APS has clearly expressed that the plan was created with the goal to keep schools open, it's troublesome that there doesn’t appear to be much thought over the mere possibility of remote learning. Nearly 5,000 schools nationwide have moved away from in-person learning according to Burbio, a company that tracks school openings. With these numbers continuing to rise, it is absolutely crucial that a protocol regarding remote learning is fully outlined, since there is a high possibility that APS will have to shut down schools. At the very least, APS could assure the public that a substantial remote learning protocol is being developed in case it becomes absolutely necessary, similarly to how they did at the start of the pandemic.
Yet, there is a lack of effort to provide anything of this sort.
It can be argued that APS have no obligation to provide information about remote learning, or that there's even a guarantee that schools will have to close. However, as of Jan. 19, all schools in APS will be required to implement the practices mentioned in the enhanced COVID safety plan at the recommendation of the New Mexico Public Education Department. This means that the initial enhanced COVID safety protocol has already had to undergo major changes in terms of when it would be implemented. That information in particular made up the majority of the plan.
As proven time and time again, poor communication only amplifies issues. If APS continues to fall short at providing the information that could be more important now than ever, then worries over whether or not individuals are safe at school will not be relieved.