-Welcome to Nevada Week.

I'm Amber Renee Dixon.

Punishments for selling and possessing fentanyl in Nevada got more severe this past legislative session thanks to a bill from Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford.

He joins us to discuss that and more ahead.

But first, the first day of school in the Clark County School District is August 7.

From staffing to safety, there's a lot to go over.

And joining us now for that is CCSD Superintendent Dr. Jesus Jara.

Dr. Jara, welcome to Nevada Week.

(Dr. Jesus Jara) Thank you for having me.

Thank you.

Exciting days.

(in unison) Exciting days ahead.

-Yes.

-As of this taping, Thursday, July 27, the school district is in somewhat contentious contract negotiations with the Clark County Education Association, the largest teachers union in the district.

They want a 10% raise in the first year of a contract, 8% in the second year.

The district and yourself have countered.

Even with the historic amount of education funding that the Governor just approved, those raises would put the district in the red, in a budget deficit.

But the union says, we're not buying it.

So what more is there to this story?

-Well, I think there's a lot.

I think it's more of the philosophy in where we need to be as a district.

So one of the things that were brought to the table is really looking at a holistic approach on how teachers are paid.

Look, I think I said it in my State of the Schools, my Board has been committed, the community has, our teachers need to be well paid.

100%.

We're all in agreement.

I think it's more on the philosophy and how we get there.

I'm looking at it as an entire approach of retention, of also recruitment.

You know, that's why we negotiated an increase in the first year, salary to increase to 50,000.

Get it over-- -For first-year teachers?

-For first-year teachers.

So that's one, and we came to an agreement this past year.

So we have historic amount of money that has been invested by the Governor.

The Governor came out really strong.

Really proud of that when we, when we saw that.

But now it's we have a salary schedule, that it's really, from what we're hearing from educators as they're leaving, and I hear it all the time.

I mean, people come to the bargaining table that the teachers are not being compensated for staying here.

I mean, we're-- so what we're proposing is, really, teachers need to be the-- need to be paid for their years of service into this community and for their education experience, for their master's, their doctorate.

So I think it's more the philosophy.

Hopefully we get there.

Because you're right, we have bargaining today and tomorrow.

August 7 is the first day of school.

I mean, I just welcomed first-year teachers into the Clark County this morning.

I mean, I have this afternoon.

So we're excited because the kids are going to come and we'll be ready.

So hopefully we get to the table with some honest conversations about where we need to be and look at the philosophy.

But what I'm excited about, I just announced yesterday, a tentative agreement with our administrators union.

We're very close, very close.

I can't give the details, but we're very close with our support staff, our Teamsters, and our police.

So I think, you know, I'm optimistic and hopefully we get there.

Our teachers deserve a pay raise.

Our teachers deserve a salary that pays them for their years of service and pays them for their degrees.

-As we speak, school starts in less than two weeks, and there are currently more than 1,000 teacher vacancies in the district.

What are you doing to fill those positions?

-So our, our principals have long-term subs that we've already hired that they've brought in.

Some of them are in the ARL program.

There are returning retirees today.

You know, as I'm walking into first year-- -ARL stands for?

-ARL is Alternative Route to a License.

So there-- they didn't get a degree in education.

They probably got-- I did.

I mean, I got a degree in sports medicine, but I was a science teacher.

7 1/2 years of, years to complete my licensure when I was-- this was back in 27 years ago in a different state.

So that's one.

We'd bring in returning retirees.

So we're monitoring that.

So we actually have 856 classrooms right now to date.

94%.

It's an increase from 92%.

I still have vacancies.

So what our principals will do, you know, as we continue to hire, we have 579 in the pipeline to process.

So one of the things we will do as we continue to monitor principals, we'll collapse classrooms, larger class sizes, which is not ideal.

And then we'll, you know, do probably buyouts and different things.

Those are some of the individual things that we have.

So as a district, I'm concerned, but it's something that we have to work through and to be able to address.

The legislature this past year built the, you know, put into legislation, you know, kind of a pipeline for growth into our high schools to become teachers.

We've invested with Nevada State College, Nevada State University.

We've invested in using our ESSER dollars to pay for the students that are in the teaching program there, pay their tuition so they can come and teach.

We also invested for our support staff.

They want to go in and get their college education so they can become teachers.

So my Board-- -There's a long-term plan.

-Yeah, there is a long-term, and we have the-- we have the short-term, right, the immediate concern that we have.

And one of the things that I think the public needs to understand, and it's I think this is why the long-term needs to be that investment, address the short-term.

But you know, the last time this school district opened fully staffed was in 1994.

So I think what we're doing now is going to really address and close that gap.

-I want to talk about school safety now.

What kind of improvements can students and teachers expect?

The Las Vegas-Review Journal did report that there will not be metal detectors this year.

-Yeah.

No, there not-- there will not be.

I mean, we're still studying, right?

It's not something we're just going to really implement without the research behind it.

One of the things that we, you know, I just want you to know and one of the things that I was very supportive, and all superintendents, working with the Governor and his staff on his bill on safety.

So we really worked hand-in-hand with his office to really address the safety in our schools.

-How so?

-Well, I think it's, you know, when you really look at the bill, that it's really to address the behavior, the violent acts, that are happening in our schools.

-We're talking about reforming the restorative justice.

-Exactly.

And I think that's one.

Our efforts are going to continue.

We started since last year really looking at the single point of entry, the fencing, the instant alert.

We've instituted all of that.

We're going to continue.

-Every teacher has instant alert?

-Every employee.

It's not just the teachers.

Every custodian, every office manager in every building, you have an instant alert system in place.

I want you to think about safety as a layered approach, because one thing is not going to fix it all.

So we did that.

One of the things we're doing now is all our campus monitors.

The Board readjusted their pay.

All our campus monitors now have--there's going to be a standardized training, a set of expectations from de-escalation to also looking at how do you talk to kids, how do you address students, the target-- when there's a violent attack, how do you address, but then also provide wraparound services.

So that's happening for all our campus monitors before they come in.

One of the other things that we're also, you know-- the reminder to our families and to our kids on the discipline Code of Conduct.

So there is some accountability that we will then be addressing as a school and as a community for parents.

But the first line of defense is the parents.

Ask your kids what's going on.

Check the bookbags.

I mean, last year we, we confiscated 33 weapons, 33 guns on campus.

Those are things that are coming in from the community.

So as a community, how we're going to address that, and our police department working with all the municipalities to address, not getting into the gun issue, that's not my issue, but my issue is guns in school is a problem.

-And the reforms to restorative justice, they better enable schools to expel and suspend students for violent acts.

You think that'll make a difference?

-I think there's going to be a level of accountability.

One of the things that we did last year, we added the reengagement.

One of the things that I've been, I've been very happy with is the reengagement, including the parents in that counseling, because to me, it's not-- and I can tell you, the Governor said to all superintendents when he first met with us, it's not about throwing them out, putting them on the street.

That doesn't help the community.

It's how do we change that behavior, which is part of the restorative practices, the restorative justice.

Because throwing them out in the street doesn't help.

Leaving them at home doesn't help.

It's putting them in a place where you're going to reengage them.

Parents have to be involved in that reengagement process.

And I think that's going to be a big part of the solution.

-A concern of yours I know is catching students up academically post-COVID.

Where do you think CCSD students are now?

-So I'm looking at the preliminary data that has come in, and that will be released by the State in September.

We've seen some minor improvements in math, I could just tell you.

And I go back to the math improvement is we, finally for the first time in over a decade, invested in curriculum using our ESSER dollars.

So we have aligned curriculum.

All our teachers, all our schools-- -ESSER dollars being federal funding.

-Yes.

I'm so sorry.

The ESSER dollar is a federal funding that we received from the Biden administration.

We were able to buy material.

So we've seen some of the, some of the success there.

English and reading, you know, we didn't make the gains as I'm looking at it.

Obviously, there's still a lot of calculations that need to happen.

I'm still concerned.

So it's how do we do it with after school, with summer?

Because it's not about adding more to the school day, but it's how do we extend the learning.

And I think that's one of the things that I'm excited.

We just adopted new curriculum for English, language arts, and reading that our teachers will be able to use this year.

So we're seeing some gains, but we have to accelerate.

One of the things that this community has to understanding, and across the country, our 3rd graders were our kindergarten babies in COVID.

-Yeah.

-So they were-- they did kindergarten and 1st grade, those two, those two years distance ed.

So there's-- which is where you need the teacher.

So, you know, we're monitoring.

We're monitoring all of this by cohort because, you know, we need to be mindful, and then how do we accelerate it?

And that's one of the things we're doing.

-Dr. Jara, wishing you and the students and the entire district, support staff, teachers a successful school year.

Before we let you go, though, what are you most excited about this year?

-Welcoming, you know.

Thank you by the way.

But just being back in school, seeing our kids, seeing our kids learning.

Our educators work so hard.

Everybody does.

And I think what the exciting piece is, is that we've had a great year and then how do we accelerate to continue on that trajectory.

-Dr. Jara, thank you for your time.

-Thank you.