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McKinley County eligible for school hybrid reopening

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SANTA FE — McKinley County is one of four New Mexico counties that have met the state’s required health conditions for eligibility to reopen in a hybrid mode.

The finding is based on the state’s updated COVID-19 map released Sept. 17.

The map shows McKinley, Hidalgo, Doña Ana and Curry counties have moved into the “green zone” – which indicates an acceptable rate of average daily cases and test positivity. The four counties were each identified as either yellow or red on the map issued two weeks ago.

Schools in these counties are now eligible to bring elementary students back for in-person learning in the hybrid model, assuming they have a Public Education Department-approved reentry plan and have the requisite safety supplies, processes and assurances in place.

Even then, districts and charter schools may decide to remain in the remote-learning mode indefinitely, as many are doing.

The PED and the Dept. of Health will continue to closely monitor conditions in the counties. Should they worsen to a point where public health officials determine a closure is necessary, schools will be notified and given a window of time in which they can complete an orderly transition back to remote learning.

Twenty-five counties were in the green zone on Sept. 3, and since then, about 65 elementary schools with about 12,500 students reopened in the hybrid mode.

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