FGGAM Just received this news release:
Senate Committee Stalls Legislation to Allow School Boards to Safely Reopen Schools
SANTA FE – The Senate Education Committee today stalled bipartisan legislation that would have allowed local school boards to safely reopen their schools during a public health emergency order. Senate Bill 171, sponsored by Senators David Gallegos (R-Eddy and Lea), Gay Kernan (R-Chaves, Eddy, and Lea), and George Muñoz (D-Cibola, McKinley, and San Juan), failed to clear the committee after four Democratic members opposed a motion to advance the bill.
Senator Kernan and Senator Gallegos released the following statements in response:
“The intent of this legislation is not to undermine the impact of COVID-19, but to underscore the need for our children to resume in-person learning,” said Senator Kernan, a retired educator. “The social and emotional harms done to our students over the past eleven months will only widen the achievement gap and further aggravate the educational challenges facing our state. We must act now to mitigate the damage and I hope the committee will revisit this bill and take a step in that direction.”
“I want to thank the students and school administrators who have voiced their support for Senate Bill 171, including those who spoke in favor of the bill during today’s committee hearing,” added Senator Gallegos. “New Mexico is a diverse state, and our local school boards – in consultation with parents, teachers, and health officials – are best suited to make future decisions about returning to in-person learning. I look forward to working with the Democratic members of the committee to address some of their concerns so we can move this bill forward.”
