Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

School District plan to reopen includes rotating school days

Wright Elementary School

Wright Elementary School fourth graders works on a writing assignment on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012.

Updated Tuesday, June 23, 2020 | 8 p.m.

The Clark County School District’s plan to reopen includes mandatory face masks for students and teachers and splitting instructional time between live classrooms and online education.

The plan would also push the start of the school year by two weeks to Aug. 24, with teachers reporting back to the classroom Aug. 10.

The proposal to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic stresses “providing a clean, safe and healthy educational environment for students and staff.”

The Clark County Education Association, meanwhile, is demanding blanket COVID-19 testing for teachers and other School District workers.

“When schools reopen, the first thing that has to happen is we have to have adequate testing for every CCSD employee before they return to work,” the association posted on Twitter today.

Gov. Steve Sisolak on March 15 ordered schools statewide closed because of the pandemic, with students finishing the academic year via online distance learning.

Districts have until July 13 to submit reopening plans to the state.

Under the Clark County plan, class sizes would be limited by staggering students between the classroom and distance learning.

Elementary school students, for example, would either attend school in person on Mondays and Tuesdays or Thursdays and Fridays. They would attend class remotely on the days they aren’t on campus.

During the two days of face-to-face instruction, elementary students would arrive to school at 8:50 a.m. and eat breakfast in class until course instruction begins at 9:15 a.m. Grades K-5 will be taught language arts and reading until classroom lunchtime from 11:55 a.m. to 12:25 p.m. followed by a structured recess until 12:55 p.m. After, students will study math and social studies/science until dismissal around 3 p.m.

No students would be in schools on Wednesdays, which would be reserved for deep cleaning.

John Vellardita, executive director of the Clark County Education Association, said it would be difficult for teachers to balance in-person and distance teaching, while they learn how to teach in a way they may not be familiar with.

“I don’t know how they juggle teaching kids in the classroom at the same time as distance learning,” Vellardita said. “You’re going to have half the class there, while half the class is away, and simultaneously you’re supposed to be managing both of those ... that’s going to be a challenge.”

At middle and high schools, passing periods would also be staggered to ensure social distancing. Yearlong courses would be condensed into one semester, and students would take only four courses a semester.

School buses would have seating charts. In the case of a positive coronavirus test, the school would get an electrostatic spray cleaning.

There will be informational sessions on the plan before school opens.

The proposal would result in $84.6 million in additional costs, including $28 million for student Chromebooks and $15 million for personal protective equipment.

Vellardita said the school district will probably have to alter reopening plans after budget cuts, which won't be known until a special session of the Nevada Legislature in July.

“The district is in a catch-22. The governor has ordered schools to be reopened. We’re less than eight weeks away from the start of a new school year. We don’t know what the revenue will be coming into the school district,” Vellardita said.

While the district awaits budget clarity, there are 100,000 students without connectivity. “That’s called poverty,” Vellardita said.

The School Board, which next meets Thursday, must ultimately approve the proposal.