Roswell school board to vote on resolution challenging NMPED mask mandates

On Tuesday, the Roswell Independent School District will be meeting to consider a resolution challenging Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) school mask mandate instituted in the “COVID-19 Response Toolkit” issued July 26, 2021.

The resolution notes multiple factors regarding the forcible masking of elementary school children, such as that the vaccine is not yet approved for children under the age of 12, the adverse effects of masking children, and the authority of the children, parents, and staff to make their own health care decisions.

The Board’s resolution noted, “[W]e recognize the importance of allowing parents and staff members to make medical decisions relating to the wearing of facial coverings and that mask mandates may have unintended consequences that are detrimental to the educational environment in schools. To ensure the ongoing support of students, educators, and communities through this worldwide pandemic, the Roswell Independent Schools Board of Education respectfully requests that the New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) reconsider its mandates contained in its COVID-19 Response Toolkit (July 26, 2021 version) and that NMPED revise its mandates and Toolkit after considering and recognizing the following:”

1. That parents should have the ability to make medical decisions in the best interests of their students, this includes whether or not the student would wear a facial covering, regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status.
2. That faculty and staff members of the District should have the ability to make their own medical decisions in their own best interests and the interests of their family to decide whether to wear a facial covering regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status.
3. That school districts keep their focus on continuing vigilant and hygienic cleaning practices at school sites, rather than shifting resources to facial covering enforcement.
4. That school districts continue to support the health, safety, and well-being of all students and educators within their districts, and not adopt practices that identify and stigmatize students and staff based on their vaccination status.
5. That, as part of local school board duties granted under NMSA § 22-5-4, school districts through their local decisions making authority be permitted to adopt rules pertaining to the administration of all powers or duties of the local board, which includes the responsibility to identify community and school district needs and opinions and to develop short and long term strategies for the educational success of students.

The resolution further requested that the New Mexico Public Education Department “support and recognize each local Board of Education’s decision making authority, including the ability and responsibility to make the decision of whether masks will be required to be worn at their local school sites based on the conditions present in their immediate local area.” 

Also, the Roswell Independent School Board requested that NMPED meet with local school boards, either in-person or virtually, to hear community input on the subject.  

The meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 10, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. at the boardroom on 300 N Kentucky Ave., Roswell, NM 88201. 

According to an agenda for the Capitan Board of Education in Lincoln County, Capitan will consider a similar resolution on Thursday, August 12, 2021, at 5:30 p.m. Find out more details here.