On Thursday, September 3rd, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced new capacity restrictions on in-person education – a decision that clearly separated public and private schools. In the announcement, Grisham declared a 25% capacity restriction on private schools, while public schools would be able to return at 50%.
Why was this distinction made? Many students and parents expected the opposite to occur, as private schools have more access to preventative resources than public schools. Douglas Peterson, the father of a 7th grade Academy student, was especially unhappy with this decision. He has gone filed a federal lawsuit against state officials for this unequal treatment. I recently had an interview with new head of school Julianne Puente to talk about her response to the lawsuit, and how the governor’s orders have affected the Academy’s reopening plan. When asked about the school’s response to Mr. Peterson’s lawsuit, Ms. Puente said, “I believe strongly in the rights of citizens and individuals to pursue their beliefs, and certainly was not going to do anything to thwart the case.”
Nora Meyers-Sackett, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, responded to Peterson’s lawsuit by stating that the governor “has a lack of oversight” over private schools as opposed to public schools. However, as Ms. Puente states, “we’re not a small business; we’re not a restaurant; we are a school. If we’re able to provide a safe environment we should be able.” Ms. Puente also outlined that she and the governor do have a common interest in providing the best and most effective education to kids, and returning to campus would ensure that the Academy could do so.

Many families and students have questioned why the Academy has been so adamant about returning to school with its full student body and why they have not allowed students to participate in in-person learning once or twice a week. Ms. Puente told me that the Academy “has fundamentally changed the way that we do school,” and, as a result, “every second counts.” This means that having in person learning once a week, without a full switch, would not optimize the educational outcomes of the current system. She understands that “people disagree with that, [but] this is about providing the best academic program possible.” She believes that the fundamental shift in scheduling, as well as the innumerable safety measures that the school has implemented, make our campus an effective and safe location for 100% of the student body to return to campus at 50% capacity. “The plan works mathematically because our teachers teach double,” Ms. Puente described, expressing gratitude for the immense amount of help and flexibility from Academy teachers and faculty.

As for the reopening plan in general, there is no specific timeline. The governor did express agreement and trust in private educators to have their students’ best interests at heart during her meeting with Ms. Puente and other private heads-of-schools on Friday, October 2nd. In addition, “The plan was made so that we could have it in the middle of winter as well, so that we didn’t need tents and the outdoors to accommodate everyone,” Puente says. She believes the school is “following an appropriate standard,” and hopes to return to campus as soon as the governor’s office permits. “Our team has made decisions that we felt would have deep learning outcomes for kids, and returning to campus would only better our ability to do so.”