Sickout Strike Plagues Clark County Schools, CCSD Files Second Injunction

A wave of school closures have plagued the Clark County School District (CCSD) since the beginning of the school year directly caused by the targeted and coordinated “sickouts” unionized teachers have employed during their battle with the district over compensation and benefits. Although it is only Tuesday, nearly a dozen schools have been forced to close this week due to a lack of teachers.

Yesterday, in response to the union’s tactics, CCSD, led by  Superintendent Jesus Jara, filed for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop the continuance of a “sickout” strike by licensed educators represented by the Clark County Education Association (CCEA). (see below)

A statement from the district reads, in part:

Contentious contract negotiations began in March followed by CCEA protests and a preliminary injunction filed by CCSD in late July. The injunction was dismissed by District Judge Jessica Peterson who claimed there wasn’t enough evidence that a teacher strike would occur. CCSD now contends that it  “defies logic to suggest that mass absences constitute anything other than a strike.”

Additionally, CCSD provides data showing that between 65 percent and 87 percent of teachers at a handful of schools across the district called out sick last week and that the “the mass absences substantially disrupted the operations of the school and impacted the educational efficiency of the students.”

CCSD is the fifth largest school district in the nation representing over 300,000 students. An initiative that could have led to the breakup of the district failed to get enough valid signatures to qualify for the 2024 ballot.

“With the initiative not achieving the valid number of signatures necessary to qualify, this distraction can be put to rest,” Superintendent Jara said at the time. “CCSD will continue working with legislators and governor-elect to ensure optimal education funding, and the policies necessary to improve student academic outcomes for all students no matter their zip code. We will continue to meet our students where they are, no matter where they come from, or how they show up.”

This past “distraction” has now morphed into a new and costly distraction for Superintendent Jara, the students, and the parents of CCSD.

During the last legislative session, Governor Lombardo signed a historic K-12 budget directing billions of dollars into Nevada’s failed public education system over the next biennium. According to the latest data, only 21 percent of Nevada’s fourth graders are proficient in reading.

The district contends that school closures have “impacted the educational efficiency of the students,” yet the above data suggests that Nevada’s public schools, when open, are anything but educationally efficient for students.

The Globe was unsuccessful in our attempts  to reach Governor Lombardo for comment