Las Vegas DSA Condemns Clark County School Reopening Procedures And CCSD Leadership
Las Vegas Democratic Socialists of America stands with the Clark County Staff Organization (CCSO), the organizing and representation staff union of the Clark County Education Association (CCEA), in condemning this school year’s reopening and CCSD leadership’s inability to keep teachers and students safe.
CCSD received nearly $800 million in federal funds over the next three years for the purpose of ensuring safety for educators, support staff, and students — yet it’s clear the processes in place are not working and funds are not being implemented appropriately. Over 1,800 positive cases have been reported throughout the district in the current school year, endangering the broader community. Yet this may be an underrepresentation of the true number of cases, as nurses in charge of the effort report that contact tracing outcomes are being suppressed by central administration, therefore subverting the quarantine requirements for staff and students. Furthermore, COVID-related sick leave has not been available to staff members since the FFCRA provisions expired in December. Many staff only have six sick leave days, which is not enough for a quarantine period.
Nevada lawmakers’ historic refusal to adequately fund education only looks worse in the current spotlight of the pandemic. It has led to increasingly detrimental facilities, untenable working conditions, unsustainable staff-to-student ratios, and grossly inadequate mental health support. The children of Clark County have already lived through a year and a half of immense trauma. Nevada families are being pushed to their emotional limits while facing uprootings, loss of loved ones, personal illness, and the highest rate of unemployment, along with additional economic distress brought on by the end of the eviction moratorium and federal unemployment benefits — issues especially felt in BIPOC communities.
Las Vegas DSA immediately calls upon CCSD to meet the demands of CCEA and all other unions, negotiate workplace safety and conditions, cease practices resulting in greater spread of infection, use the federal funding to provide educators with at least 10 days of paid COVID-related sick leave, hire staff that are capable of continuing instruction should an educator need to use the sick leave, conduct regular COVID testing so employees aren’t forced to go on their own time, and update school safety protocols to allow nurses to fully conduct contact tracing without suppressing outcomes.
We encourage members of the community to make a public comment during a CCSD Board of Trustees meeting and sign this statement of support for Clark County educators. Written public comments may be submitted to boardmtgcomments@nv.ccsd.net and in-person testimony can be scheduled in advance or immediately prior to the meeting.
About Las Vegas DSA
The Las Vegas Democratic Socialists of America is a community of Las Vegas comrades committed to uplifting our city through advocacy of and organizing for a nation-wide, world-wide working-class movement that puts people and planet over profit. As a group of leftist organizers and civil actors, we recognize that corporations, the finance industry and private interests stripped working people’s political power. We are socialists, feminists, and anti-racists who share a positive vision for a better, fairer world. Together we can impact our community for the better and fulfill our nation’s promise of democracy. Join us to help fight for liberty and justice for all!
Contacts
For inquiries, please email lasvegasdsa@gmail.com