Ledes from the Land of Enchantment

63 COVID-19 cases reported last week

LAS CRUCES – Over the past week, students and staff at Las Cruces public schools tested positive for COVID-19 at roughly the same rate as the past two weeks.

There were 63 positive tests in the week of September 22-28. There were 69 positive tests the week before and 65 positive tests the week before. LCPS reports the total number of positive cases in 428 positive tests since school started on August 9th.

However, the district recently implemented a new dashboard for reporting COVID-19 cases and there are some inconsistencies with previously reported numbers.

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During a board meeting on September 21, Deputy Operations Manager Gabe Jacquez presented the latest COVID-19 updates in the district and the new system for evaluating the number of cases.

The new system tracks cases by school and records the percentage of positive cases in relation to the number of students and staff in the buildings. The data is adjustable and the site contains data for the entire district and for individual schools.

The system now includes Doña Ana Headstart, an early childhood care center at New Mexico State University, which reported three cases in late August.

It also groups cases in administrative buildings into one sector: Las Cruces District Admin. According to previous Sun News records, this likely includes cases in the LCPS headquarters, teaching and learning center, physical facilities, health service and specialists for Student transport.

Last week, the schools with the highest percentage of new COVID-19 cases were the Mesilla Valley Leadership Academy (1 percent), the Mesilla Park Elementary (0.9 percent), the Hermosa Heights Elementary (0.7 percent), the Mesa Middle (0.69 percent), Monte Vista Elementary (0.67 percent), and Loma Heights Elementary (0.56 percent).

Las Cruces Public Schools' new COVID-19 tracking system records cases with a percentage of positive cases relative to the number of students and staff in the buildings.  There have been 428 positive cases across the district as of August 9.

Cumulative district data

Overall, around 1.56 percent of the students and staff at the LCPS tested positive for COVID-19 this school year.

Of the 428 positive cases in the district, 337 are students and 91 are employees or contractors, according to the new dashboard.

Mayfield High still has the highest number of COVID-19 cases at 24, but the Las Cruces district administration designation is also listed at 24 cases. Camino Real Middle has 22 and Orgelberg High has 21.

Mesa Middle had the largest surge in the past week, with six additional positive cases.

The new COVID-19 dashboard from LCPS can be found at lcps.net/returnplan/covidnews.html.

COVID-19 Rapid Response by District

There are currently no quick responses at Hatch Valley Public Schools or the Gadsden Independent School District, according to the New Mexico Environmental Department’s Rapid Response Tracker.

In total, LCPS has 44.

A quick response means one or more people tested positive for COVID-19 and were contagious on campus. All cases reported to a school on a single day, as well as all cases with test dates until the next day, are summarized in a single quick reaction.

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The New Mexico Public Education Department announced on Aug. 19 that it will not require schools to close if it receives four quick responses in 14 days, which was the previous policy.

Sierra Middle School currently has four quick responses but will not be closing according to updated guidance.

Instead, the State Department will work with schools to introduce improved COVID-safe practices that will sustain personal learning as much as possible. It is at a district’s discretion whether or not to convert a school to distance learning unless the Department of Health intervenes.

Ten schools across the state have four quick responses. Check out the NMED website for quick responses at env.nm.gov/rapid-response-data/.

Miranda Cyr, a member of the Report for America Corps, can be reached at [email protected] or @mirandabcyr on Twitter. Show your support for the Report for America program at https://bit.ly/LCSNRFA.

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