At the November 9, 2021 meeting of the Archuleta School Board, Superintendent Kym LeBlanc-Esparza offered the following report, via Zoom.
She addressed the Board.
“I know that you guys are interested in an update. And I started out this morning writing about where we are… kind of what the current state of cases is, in our District. And I went from 29 cases, this morning, to 36 cases at the end of the day.
“We definitely have an increase in student cases and staff cases in our District, and our community has experienced 87 since November 1, so we are definitely seeing a surge.
“I know that you’ve seen, in the media, that Colorado has seen increases, but here in Archuleta County we’ve seen very acute increases over the past eight days.”
Cases seem to have peaked in Archuleta County on November 12, with an incidence rate of over 100 confirmed cases over the previous week. But time will tell.
Dr. LeBlanc-Esparza continued:
“We’re working hard to keep all of our learning ‘in-person’, but the challenges really are, not only cases within our student population, but shortages among custodians, bus drivers, as well as unfilled substitute roles for teacher absences.
“I know there were comments made earlier. I just want to provide a little bit of data, so folks have some context.
“For example, last Friday, we had 18 staff absences, with only two subs. The High School was remote at that time… Oh, I’m sorry, I meant, there were two teaching positions without subs.
“The High School was remote, so that definitely had an impact, because teachers could teach remotely. But last Monday, when they were in-person, we had four teaching roles that were unfilled. On Tuesday, we had six without subs.
“That seems like a lot. But we also had sixteen subs working in the District that day. To put things into perspective, we definitely have a shortage of subs, but we do have quite a number who are working in our District. We have a lot of absences right now, and a lot of it is related to illness.
“Today, we had seven jobs with no subs, and seven subs working in the District. To provide a little bit of context there.
“Staff is doing what they can, to fill in for each other, and every day is a challenge. They have to give up their [planning period] when they cover for each other, and so it’s really challenging to be prepared for that next class. Admin are also covering classes each and every day.
“I would put a call out to members of the public who are with us today [via Zoom]. We do need subs. If you are interested, we will take your application tomorrow. Please sign up with the District, because we need folks. It is a challenging time, and we do want to keep students ‘in-person’ and where we can, we will.
“Everything has a bit of a domino effect. I expected us all to be much further along with strategic planning, goal setting, time-lining. The work is happening, but it’s happening at a much slower pace than I’ve ever had to accept, in leadership. It’s the era that we’re in, and our leadership team is working hard, but the Tyranny of the Urgent is definitely taking precedence.
“Some of the public comments [this evening] spoke to discipline and issues that are happening within our school district. We’re definitely seeing an uptick in discipline [problems]. We’ve seen more fights this year than in the last three years. We had a meeting with our police department on Friday — the building-level leaders and myself, with Chief Rockensock and members of the Sheriff’s Office — to talk about some of the most extreme discipline cases that we’re seeing… disrespectful behavior, and physical aggression toward our staff members… and we’re asking them to help make sure our [School Resource Officers] feel well-prepared to help us address that. Because anytime we have to deal with that, there is the potential of disrupting the learning environment and taking learning away from students.
“My second piece is San Juan Mountain School…”
San Juan Mountain School is a District-run ‘alternative’ high school that has been operating in collaboration with Pagosa Springs High School. SJMS opened this year in a new building overlooking the high school parking lot, where vocational learning will form a large part of the instruction.
“I’m incredibly grateful for the work that Stewart [Bellina] and Josh [Sanchez] did, helping Todd [Stevens] get the building in place and get it connected. But I will share that we are still under a temporary certificate of occupancy. The school has had to operate for over a month, in the beginning, with only ‘hot spots’ because they were waiting for CenturyLink and Durango Electric to help complete the wiring and get everything connected. We’re still awaiting some permanent wiring connections as we speak. Jesse [Morehouse] is working on key-card access points and fire prevention systems.
“This process took longer, and it certainly was more complicated than it should have been. But the team persevered and they got approval, in order to host our kids and get them served in our district.
“Now, the problem is, they’re already overcrowded.
“I would encourage us to make sure that — over the next month or two — we put San Juan Mountain School on an agenda, so we can discuss, what is Phase Two, what is Phase Three? Because there are definitely demands for enrollment, which is a good thing. Students are sticking with us, rather than going to [local charter high school GOAL Academy] or dropping out.
“We do need to think, sooner rather than later, about more space for them…”
(Disclosure: I serve on the board of Pagosa Peak Open School, the District-authorized K-8 charter school located in Aspen Village. PPOS has also been facing various COVID challenges — student absences, staffing shortages. Remarkably enough for a charter school — a type of public school often strained by lack of space — PPOS has not been suffering from crowded conditions.)