Mayfield High to return to in-person classes after Las Cruces ‘secret prom’; students not disciplined

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico — High school students who attended “secret proms” in the Las Cruces Public Schools district won’t face disciplinary actions, and Mayfield High School will resume in-person classes on Thursday, days sooner than previously thought.

The decisions follow an investigation into private house parties and backlash from some elected officials over the move to preemptively suspend in-person learning for all students at Mayfield.

Superintendent Ralph Ramos said that the Mayfield event had 200 to 500 students not wearing face masks, according to an investigation that involved state education and health officials.

“To me, that’s a huge concern. I’m not here to police private properties,” Ramos said, but added that a mass gathering of more than 10 people “brings safety concerns to us at LCPS.”

The investigation began last week after a complaint was filed with the governor’s office. School officials also discovered at least one other large student party billed as a secret prom, though with greater adherence to Covid-19 safe practices, Ramos said.

After initially ordering students to stay home until April 26, officials recalculated the quarantine time from the date of the event, not the complaint, allowing Mayfield to return to in-person learning on April 22.

Students from other high schools were notified individually that they need to quarantine, but their schools were not closed.

Student organizers of the secret proms won’t face punishment for the private events.

“We have not disciplined anybody,” Ramos said, adding that the investigation is focused on safety.

Some high schools in the district are in the process of planning socially-distanced proms.