The Dolores School District is considering an in-person and online hybrid learning model during the holiday season after school board members met Thursday with officials from Montezuma County Public Health and Southwest Memorial Hospital.

The board will meet Tuesday at 6 p.m. to make a final decision.

The health care facilities sent a letter to school districts in Montezuma County, asking them to consider switching to online learning between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Families are likely to gather for the holidays, potentially increasing the spread of COVID-19.

The Montezuma County Public Health Department had its highest number of positive COVID-19 test results Thursday, with 33 new cases.

Director Bobbi Lock said that the 33 cases have hundreds of exposures, which stretches the department thin with contact tracing.

“I started working at 6 a.m. up until this call, and I’m not finished yet,” Lock said late Thursday evening at the school board meeting.

Southwest Memorial Hospital’s resources are also stretched thin. As of Friday, there were 210 active cases of the virus in the county, up from 147 the previous day.

If hospital beds start filling up with COVID-19 patients, the hospital has less capacity to care for people with other illnesses and injuries, said Kent Aiken, a doctor at Southwest Memorial.

Marc Meyer, pharmacist and infection control manager for Southwest Health, also said the hospital is concerned about staff contracting the virus with no one to fill in.

Several parents spoke at the meeting Thursday or sent letters to the board with accounts of personal experiences expressing fear that a switch to online learning could negatively affect students’ mental health.

Nikki Berdzar, a parent who attended the school board meeting, said mental health care facilities would fill up.

Tiffany Nichols, a case worker at Montezuma County Child Protective Services, said students would still gather at places like the Piñon Project and church services if they were sent home for online learning while their parents were working.

Mental health issues rise during school closures because of the isolation, Nichols said. “School is a safe place for them.”

Teachers often are the first to detect and report cases of child abuse or neglect.

Jori Smeth opened up about her own son’s struggle with suicidal thoughts, and her gratitude that he reached out to a teacher who was able to connect him with the help he needed.

“School is a safe place for kids,” said Camden Malloy, a student on the executive council of student government.

Other parents expressed concerns about their children falling behind academically.

“Do you want to have a generation of children that are failing?” Charlotte Klein said.

Single or working parents do not have the time to sit with their young children and ensure they are doing their schoolwork, Klein said.

“My children went from A’s and B’s to F’s” last spring, Amanda Winter said, “ and they did not fail due to not trying.”

Teachers are reporting absences during remote instruction, and many students lack the necessary internet access. Even with the hot spots for Wi-Fi the school district is providing, the internet is slow, Amanda Schuster said. Her kids’ grades also dropped during online learning last spring.

After listening to feedback from parents, the Dolores Board of Education asked Superintendent Lis Richard to work with administration to put together a plan for a blend of in-person and online learning for students, which they would review Tuesday during another special meeting.

“If any parent is concerned and wants to put their student online immediately, they can,” Richard said. The school district wants to meet the needs of every student and staff member, she said.

The school board was split between those that wanted to stay in-person and those that wanted to go online.

“This closure doesn’t suit all families, and we don’t want to head in a direction our constituents are not in favor of,” school board member Casey McClellan said.

But Kay Phelps and Maegan Crowley said the closure during the holiday season is a small ask from the local health department to help the community as a whole.

“We can’t flatten the county’s curve – that’s not our responsibility,” Richard said. “But we’re ready no matter what.”

ehayes@the-journal.com