PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT NEWS
Thirty-two New Mexico public school buildings appeared on the COVID-19 Watchlist in the week ending Friday, Feb. 5, signifying they had at least two Rapid Responses within a 14-day period.
Those school buildings are:
ALBUQUERQUE:
- Albuquerque High
- Cleveland Middle
- Eldorado High
- Hope Christian Elementary
- Susie Rayos Marmon Elementary
- Volcano Vista High
ANTHONY
- Gadsden High
ARTESIA
- Artesia Public Schools Warehouse
- Grand Heights Early Childhood
BELEN
- Central Elementary
BLOOMFIELD
- Bloomfield Early Childhood Center
- Central Primary
DORA
- Dora Elementary
ESPANOLA
- Eutimio Salazar Elementary
FARMINGTON
- Farmington Municipal Schools — Plant Op
- McCormick Elementary
- Northeast Elementary
GALLUP
- Gallup McKinley County Schools-SSC
HOBBS
- Hobbs High
- Houston Middle
HONDO
- Hondo Elementary
JEMEZ PUEBLO
- Jemez Valley High
LAS CRUCES
- Las Cruces Public Schools
LOVINGTON
- Lovington High
RIO RANCHO
- Shining Stars Preschool
ROSWELL
- Gateway Christian Schools
- Goddard High
- Roswell AESC
RUIDOSO
- Region IX Head Start
SANDIA PARK
- East Mountain High
SANTA FE
- Pojoaque High
SOCORRO
- Socorro High
During that same period, no schools were placed on the Closure List.
The Watchlist, maintained by the New Mexico Environment Department, includes schools and businesses with two or more Rapid Responses within 14 days. Those with four or more Rapid Responses in 14 days are placed on the Closure List and required to close and, where appropriate, return instruction to remote-only learning.
A Rapid Response is a series of interventions designed to prevent COVID-19 spread, beginning when the New Mexico Department of Health notifies a school that an employee or student has a confirmed positive case and was on campus/in the facility during the infectious period. Read the complete COVID-19 Rapid Response Watchlist here.
If a public school is required to close because it has four or more Rapid Responses in a 14-day period, it must remain in remote-only learning mode until its county is in the green zone — a Department of Health distinction signifying acceptable control of the virus. See the map here.
Only the individual school that reached the four-in-14 threshold would be required to return to remote learning. That means a school district could have one school closed for in-person learning, another on the Watchlist, and others with no impact.