A sign announces that the Las Vegas Academy is closed, Wednesday, July 22, 2020, in Las Vegas. Clark County school trustees cited fears of spreading the coronavirus and unanimously decided Tuesday to begin the 2020-2021 school year using distance education.
AP Photo/John Locher
(Michael McGrady) – The Clark County School District (CCSD) Board of Trustees approved the district’s reopening strategy for the coming academic year.
CCSD, the fifth-largest school district in the U.S., will begin with online instruction models to help accommodate public health concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During a Tuesday board meeting, the board approved an agenda item formalizing the 2020-2021 school reopening plan, per the recommendations of Jesus F. Jara, the school district's superintendent. Additionally, the board said they added further provisions that will dictate health and wellness updates every month, offering the necessary data to eventually return to hybrid or in-person instruction.
Schools in rural communities around the Las Vegas valley, Henderson, Boulder City, and other Clark County census-designated communities can choose to return to in-person or hybrid instruction if schools are able to follow the state health and safety guidelines. The plan also offered amended schedules and required course loads for secondary students.
For staff, the district's reopening plan permits hybrid telecommuting. Other staff-related recommendations that were adopted this week include new measures for professional development for staff, among other benefits. Many of the recommendations were reached and approved by the board, the district administration, and collaborations with the Clark County Education Association, which represents educators across the district.
Support staff are reportedly concerned about their job security throughout the plan's implementation. KVVU-TV, a local Fox affiliate, reported that support staff and personnel were left out of all considerations related to the school district's reopening.
The Clark County Education Support Employees Association said it believes that “all of our input was ignored and we feel that we are expendable even though our employees are the heartbeat of our students learning.”
The Clark County School District includes over 342,000 students, employs over 15,000 teachers, and includes thousands more support staff and administrators.
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