The Clark County School District (CCSD) announced they were going to close schools, “due to extreme staffing shortages based on the high number of positive Covid-19 cases”. The failing district prescribed a “5 day pause to provide relief” to “Stop the Spread”. Remote learning will not be available and sports and recreational activities are also cancelled. Classes and activities are expected to resume January 19th.
In a published response, Governor Sisolak chimed in, stating: “Sadly, we are still dealing with the realities of a global pandemic. But 2022 will not be 2020. We now have the tools, the knowledge, and the resources to keep schools open safely and effectively. There is no going back.”
Yet, the first week “back to school” in 2022 resulted in CCSD going back to the school shutdowns of 2020.
Candidates Adam Laxalt and April Becker weighed in on Twitter:
As reported by KVVU:
“The closure comes amid a surge of cases among students and educators. As of Tuesday, the district has reported more than 10,500 total COVID-19 cases since July, including nearly 7,000 students and 3,000 staffers. Of the total number, 2,272 have been reported this month.
That means roughly 22% of all reported cases since summer, are from January 1-10.”
The Las Vegas Review Journal reports:
“On Wednesday, the district had 1,643 employee absences and an 83 percent student attendance rate. On Thursday, 1,875 employees were out, while the student rate remained about the same.
That’s compared with an average rate so far this school year of 1,396 employees absent and 90 percent student attendance.
Those absences are due to all reasons, including vacation and sick time, and the district hasn’t specified how many are due to COVID-19-related illnesses or quarantines.
The district was already grappling with a worsening staff shortage before the more-contagious omicron variant of the new coronavirus piled on.
As of mid-December, the district was already short about 850 licensed employees and hundreds of support staff. Due to a lack of substitute teachers, some teachers were “selling” their prep periods to cover vacancies long term or on a day-to-day basis.
That forced principals to combine some classes and, in some cases, move dozens of students to large spaces like the school gym or auditorium to work on lessons on their laptops.”
This surge in absences aligns with a surge at testing facilities across the Las Vegas Valley, causing traffic back ups and long wait times at Sam Boyd Stadium. In response to the public’s demand, the Southern Nevada Heath District (SNHD) is opening two additional testing sights in Henderson.
The Globe reached out to SNHD’s communications department to ask what type of tests are being administered at these three locations. The representative on the phone confirmed that PCR tests, not antigen tests, were being used.
Additionally, Laxalt points out in his Twitter thread, that the failing district’s priorities are in coaching educators and teaching children “equity and diversity”.
The document in his link, published by the Nevada Department of Education, highlights $380,000 for “Restorative Justice” paid to and unspecified “national provider”:
At a time when Nevada schools rank last in education, The Globe reviewed all 78 pages of this document (see below). We couldn’t find much language supporting and improving math, english, or science literacy.
As reported by The Globe, testing scores of 3rd to 8th grade students in Clark County, taken and published by Smart Balance Assessments, show that only 3.9% of Black students and 7.4% of Hispanic students were proficient in Math. In English, 11.2% of Black students and 15.7% of Hispanic students were proficient. Overall, only 20 percent of Clark County students tested proficient in English Language Arts. In math, it was 11.5 percent.
In individual categories, the Las Vegas area ranked 49th for academic growth, 42nd for growth among disadvantaged students, 28th for metropolitan area progress and 42nd for high school graduation rate.
Based on these abysmal numbers, parents should be asking what, if anything, are their children learning when and if schools reopen.
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