The New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) is allowing districts and charter schools to set their own face mask policies, eliminating most mandates created during the pandemic.
The new version of the COVID-19 Response Toolkit also accepts over-the-counter COVID tests, and schools are no longer required to provide voluntary student testing programs, according to KRQE.
“My colleagues and I are delighted that declining infection rates have allowed us to turn more decision-making over to the district and charter school leaders who know their communities best,” Kurt Steinhaus, PED secretary, said in a news release. “We’ve waited a long time — working hard and learning as we went — to get to this point. My greatest hope is we can continue safely learning and teaching in-person.”
Other updates include allowing non-essential visitors, assemblies, and field trips. COVID isolation rooms are no longer required in schools.
The public health order requiring masks to be worn indoors was recently lifted, but it initially remained in place so local school leaders could establish mask policies for their districts or charter schools, according to the PED. Now, it’s up to each individual to decide whether they want to wear a mask.
Mandates requiring masks to be worn in public schools have been a hot-button issue since the beginning of the pandemic. Parents often were at odds with the decisions made by schools boards across the country, which have tried to adhere to COVID-19-related information provided by state medical services. This often created a no-win situation for educators.
