LAS VEGAS (AP) - Schools in the Las Vegas area that had more than 300,000 students when campuses closed in March won’t resume classroom instruction when the new semester starts next month.
In response to fears of the spread of the coronavirus - and despite concerns about a shortage of laptops, lack of internet access for some students and the possibility of losing federal funds if school doors don’t open - Clark County School District trustees decided unanimously Tuesday to begin the 2020-2021 school year using what officials call distance education.
“It’s better to lose federal dollars than any of you to lose your life,” school board member Linda Young said, comparing the decision to the sinking of the Titanic, KVVU-TV reported . “We don’t have life jackets for everyone … we’re in a crisis, folks, with a capital C.”
District administrators proposed two days of classroom attendance and three days of online instruction each week, prompting intense debate in the county with nearly 2.3 million residents.
Schools Superintendent Jesus Jara cast the final recommendation to keep closed more than 350 campuses in one of the nation’s largest school districts as a matter of health and safety.
In Reno, the state’s second-largest school district plans to begin in-class teaching Aug. 17. The teacher’s union wants the Washoe County school board to reconsider and to rely on remote learning only for at least the first nine weeks.
Clark County schools health coordinator Linda Kalekas said 2,186 children in the Las Vegas area have tested positive for the COVID-19 illness, or about 6.8% of the 32,025 cases in the county, and some became critically ill. Kalekas noted the data wasn’t limited to public school students.
The Southern Nevada Health District reports that at least 553 people in the Las Vegas area have died of COVID-19.
For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause severe illness, including pneumonia, and death. The vast majority recover.
In addition to concerns about lack of hands-on laboratory instruction, live performance study and physical education, board members asked about support for special education students who struggle with distance learning or whose educational plans require in-person class time.
They were told that teachers would be instructed to meet with those families individually to assess students’ needs.
District officials are considering purchasing mobile hot spots for students who currently lack internet access, at a cost of up to $23 million, the Las Vegas Sun reported .
The district also plans to use $28 million in federal emergency funds to purchase laptop computers for students, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported .
Public comment posted ahead of the special meeting ranged from pleas for trustees to adopt the distance learning model to cries that it would be disastrous for education.
“Our children are not in danger of dying,” said Amy Basner, a parent of five children. “Children need an education from licensed teachers. Please open our schools.”
“In-person is so risky,” Susan Pate wrote. “We can not afford to gamble with kids’ lives. Let’s play it safe and get kids back when the time is right, not now.”
Abigail Figiera, the mother of a daughter attending a performing arts high school, worried about families that can’t afford day care.
“Distance learning is a travesty,” Figiera said. “This is ridiculous and completely unfeasible for the community.”
Parent Krysten Fletcher said she works full-time in a hospital and has no one to supervise her children’s education.
“Teachers are just as essential as all of us and need to be in the classroom with the children,” she wrote.
President Donald Trump has called for schools to fully reopen in September, saying he will pull funding from districts that continue to keep kids home.
As of Sunday, about 220,800 students were registered for the upcoming academic year in the Clark County district, about 3,300 fewer the same time last year.
Trustee Danielle Ford asked administrators about the financial impact of students leaving the district for private schools or home-schooling, the Sun reported. Clark County schools receive state funding of about $6,000 annually per student.
“We have contracts we need to fulfill,” Ford said. “Losing that money could bankrupt us.”
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