New Mexico’s updated public health order to shelter-in-place for two weeks beginning Monday. Nov. 16 will mean all of Las Cruces Public Schools’ athletic programs, in-person learning classes and student organizations meeting in small groups will be immediately suspended.
Approximately 23 students were in classrooms this week for special education in-person learning. That number was expected to grow as more schools submitted re-entry plans to allow for the same.
Athletic programs across the district were meeting for practices and limited engagement, and some student organizations at the high school level were meeting under the current public health order. That order was amended Friday to immediately suspend non-essential businesses.
“There were no specific provisions for our schools,” said LCPS Superintendent Dr. Karen Trujillo, who watched a livestream of the governor’s press conference Friday afternoon. “But we know what we have to do. Our part in this emergency is to stay vigilant and limit the activity in our buildings to keep our students and staff safe to the greatest extent possible.”
The district recently launched a COVID-19 Reporting and Response dashboard that tracks the virus within the district and offers a multitude of community resources available to students and parents for online tutoring, meal distribution information and bilingual education assistance. That dashboard can be found at www.lcps.net/returnplan.