Superintendent of Hobbs Municipal Schools TJ Parks said the bond between communities in southeast New Mexico might prove the cure to the long, drawn out months battling COVID-19. The first case of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was identified in New Mexico in March 2019, prompting Parks, Carlsbad Municipal Schools (CMS) Superintendent Dr. Gerry Washburn and Artesia Public Schools (APS) Superintendent John Ross Null to deepen communication to work on behalf of their respective cities. "Our communities have an awful lot in common. We have much more in common than we would from somebody in northern New Mexico. We share ideas, concerns and I think we've had to come together because we're kind of all alone out here and I think without each other it would be more difficult to survive what we've gone through," Parks said.