School is officially underway throughout Nevada. Washoe County schools started this week, and Clark County started last week.
And, as is often the case, this year started with questions — from students and parents.
A new cell phone ban inspired Clark County students to start a petition against the policy. It’s gotten just over 25,000 signatures. A new student ID rule has raised some hackles. Some high schools are resorting to a single lunch break, which is causing angst.
And in the first week, Clark County School District police arrested a juvenile for several robberies of other students on the same day. And another incident not gone from the minds of CCSD families is the beating death of 17-year-old Jonathan Lewis Jr. last year.
When such concerns arise, the public looks to school administrators and members of the school board for answers, ideas, and solutions.
Evelyn Garcia Morales, president of the Clark County School District Board of Trustees and elected to the board in 2020, talked about a wide range of issues.
Cell phone ban in classrooms
The new CCSD policy is that students need to put their phones into a pouch that can’t receive signals. An online petition against the policy gained more than 25,000 signatures. At the same time, research has shown a correlation between no classroom cell phone use and reduced disciplinary issues and better proficiency scores.
“Every school has a different way of setting this up. There are pouches at each desk. And they have the ability to put it in at the start of the (class). We’re hearing a lot of families saying they’re really concerned about a student’s ability to focus in class. They’re excited about the pouches. At the same time, they’re concerned about safety. (Some students and parents want the ability to call each other in case of emergencies.) My piece is broader: what are we doing to ensure all of our campuses are safe and protected, beyond the cell phones? The cell phone and access may feel like an easy access to help us feel safe, but we really need as a board and community to ensure all of our students are safe on campus and we keep people who are not to be on campus out.”
Plastic turf replacing grass
A listener wrote in concerned about the replacement of grass on campuses with artificial turf. In early August, one family told local news outlets their son suffered burns from artificial turf during football practice in 104-degree heat.
“Like anybody that has to make to make decisions based on information it has in the moment, along with the resource it has available, we know the district has more maintenance needs than it has resources to allocate. There’s tremendous benefits in having artificial turf available for schools and we’ve seen tremendous success in some of our current high schools that have those football fields as turf.”
If new information about artificial turf becomes available, she added: “There’s always room to reconsider.”
Teacher shortages and burnout
Teacher shortages are an issue in districts across the country. For years, Clark County schools have started with 1,000 or more fewer teachers than were needed. After teacher wages were greatly increased last year, the expectation was that it might help with teacher recruitment. What’s the district doing to recruit and keep teachers?
“(We’ve) invested in … a pathway pipeline for high school students … preparing to become teachers; a support professionals pipeline program so those with associates degree and already working for CCSD are preparing to receive additional resources, funding to become an educator. And while we have an incredible workforce with a tremendous amount of years in the system and has a lot of knowledge that we want to keep … as a system, we want to ensure we … keep up with inflation and provide them increases and opportunities to grow and lead them in different ways that serve them and support them. There’s support all around. We’re doing our best to mitigate cell phones, safety issues, violence in and around our campus community. It takes more than just a district to ensure our campuses are safe.”
What she learned during her time on the board during COVID-19
In Nevada, 12,000 people died from COVID-19. Nationwide, 1.1 million people died. CCSD board meetings became chaotic at times, with people yelling at board members. Parents angry about remote learning when schools were closed. When students came back to school, there were outbreaks of violence. Teachers were quitting outright.
“What I learned is that there was a lot of pain…from members of the community … and we as a community have the ability to overcome really challenging moments in time. When I came on board (in 2021), we were getting ready to open up schools and that was one of my maybe of my first major votes. The district had figure out how to distribute food to families; computers were set up for students. We turned things around very quickly with support of incredible staff and student. And there’s always room to grow… And I noticed that even when there were challenges at board meetings there was a deep desire to rally behind each other … We didn’t lose hope. I didn’t lose hope.”
Guest: Evelyn Garcia Morales, president, Clark County School District Board of Trustees
