By Jackie Valley/The Nevada Independent
When the Clark County School District surveyed students, parents and staff about their desires for the upcoming academic year, respondents overwhelmingly favored a full-time return to school.
That’s not looking like the reality come August.
Earlier this week, the district unveiled the broad strokes of a reopening plan that would have students in class two days a week and learning virtually the other three days. There’s also an option for students to choose full-time distance education. The first public discussion about that proposal, which lasted more than four hours, happened Thursday during a tension-filled Clark County School Board meeting.
Superintendent Jesus Jara kicked off the discussion by acknowledging the criticism community members have posted on social media and shared in public comments: It’s not ideal. But the plan is similar to others being considered by districts across the nation, including Washoe County.
“The plan that our team will be sharing tonight — it’s not optimal, but it’s sound,” he said.
District leaders walked through the plan, answering a litany of community-submitted questions about child care, teacher workloads, COVID-19 screenings, extracurricular activities, scheduling logistics, vulnerable populations, the digital divide and more.
Still, some trustees — whose email inboxes were inundated with messages from concerned parents, teachers or students — tried to get at the core question: How much flexibility does the district have in charting its own pandemic-era destiny?
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