When does virus force closure? New Mexico schools now decide

By CEDAR ATTANASIO
Associated Press / Report for America

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico school districts have more control this semester over if and when in-person education has to stop because of a virus outbreak. Schools no longer have to close down because of a threshold of positive cases set by state officials. Instead, they are on their own this month and working to release plans by next month documenting what they will do if there is a major outbreak. Instead of counting raw case numbers, schools are moving to keep track of the percentage of a school that is infected with the virus. The plans will include scenarios for schools that hit 5% infection rates.