Copyright © 2020 Albuquerque Journal
Albuquerque Public Schools now has a districtwide COVID-19 tracking report on its website.
Monica Armenta, an APS spokeswoman, said the district posted the report to APS.edu last week.
It’s located through the APS Reentry Plan tab under “safety measures.”
Staff member cases from August and September are charted, showing weekly totals and whether the cases were at a school.
However, Armenta said an employee recently tested positive for the novel coronavirus at East San Jose Elementary School and another employee case was confirmed at Adobe Acres Elementary School that are not reflected in the online report as of Wednesday afternoon.
She added that the district is currently aiming to update the page on Fridays.
“Once a case is confirmed by state health officials it is captured in the tracking report,” Armenta said.
The data provides information on the rate of infection in APS and possible trends, and aims to help people make decisions, she said.
According to the report, there were a total of 17 cases among staff in August at nine APS sites, mainly schools.
Three of the cases were at the district’s Lincoln Complex, which houses offices including the APS Capital Master Plan department and Maintenance and Operations.
The APS charts don’t reflect contractors, only district employees, according to Armenta.
At a Board of Education meeting earlier this month, Interim Superintendent Scott Elder was asked why the district wasn’t sending out this type of information on confirmed cases and he said this report was forthcoming.
“We have developed a data sheet that is tracking the number of cases and tracking the number of schools that we’ve had to close,” Elder told the board.
He added that a school’s community is notified if a case is confirmed on a particular campus.
The state Public Education Department also announced that it will be publishing daily updates on positive school-related cases across the state.
