Alamogordo Public Schools requests 30 National Guardsmen to substitute teach amid COVID-19

Alamogordo Public Schools Superintendent Kenneth Moore said at the regular Alamogordo Public School board of Education meeting on Jan. 19 that he asked for 30 National Guardsmen to be deployed to Alamogordo to help with substitute teaching as COVID-19 infections rose among educators.

The request came after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced this week a call for state workers and National Guardsmen to help substitute teach at schools and childcare facilities after recent spikes in COVID-19 infections left many school staff and educators unable to work. 

"This would be a tremendous help to have additional adult supervision in our schools," Moore said. "We did ask for 30. We have no timeline yet on when or if those National Guard substitutes will arrive."

Lujan Grisham announced the Supporting Teachers and Families (STAF) initiative in a Wednesday news release in which she asked superintendents across the state how many National Guardsmen or state workers they would like to help offset the effects of COVID-19 on the teaching population on New Mexico school campuses.

She hoped by deploying additional personnel, schools and childcare facilities would be able to stay open despite staffing shortages brought on by the pandemic. 

"The initiative encourages state workers and National Guard members to volunteer to become licensed as substitute pre-K-12 teachers and/or childcare workers and work where they are needed to keep doors open for in-person learning and childcare," the news release states.

The state workers and National Guardsmen must complete the same prerequisites that regular substitute teachers and childcare workers complete including background checks and completing an online workshop through the New Mexico Public Education Department, read the release.

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"The state will also ensure that the needs of schools and the state are balanced to ensure that state services are not affected by this effort."

Lujan Grisham said the move would maintain a sense of "stability" for New Mexico youngest students during the health crisis. 

“Our schools are a critical source of stability for our kids – we know they learn better in the classroom and thrive among their peers,” she said in the news release.

“Our kids, our teachers and our parents deserve as much stability as we can provide during this time of uncertainty, and the state stands ready to help keep kids in the classroom, parents able to go to work and teachers able to fully focus on the critical work they do every single day in educating the next generation.”

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As of Jan. 19, Otero County reported 10,834 positive COVID-19 cases, 8,784 recoveries and 154 death attributed to COVID-19 since reporting began in March 2020, according to the New Mexico Department of Health.

The county also reported 54.7% of residents completed their full vaccination schedule with 65.8% receiving at least one shot, per the New Mexico Department of Health.

Nicole Maxwell can be contacted by email at nmaxwell@alamogordonews.com, by phone at 575-415-6605 or on Twitter at @nicmaxreporter.