Clark County not planning to close schools because of coronavirus fears — yet

Whether Clark County schools will close over coronavirus concerns depends in part on having enough bus drivers to get kids to school and enough teachers to teach them, district representatives said Thursday, emphasizing that the final decision will rest with the Southern Nevada Health District.

Christopher Bernier of the Clark County School District’s Office of Emergency Management said at a board meeting Thursday that the CCSD has been working with the health district for direction on what would require school closures, including how to provide technology like laptops for students who would need them.

The situation is evolving hourly, but there are no confirmed cases nor presumptive positives of COVID-19 at district schools and no plans to close any schools, Bernier said.

“Where our issues are going to come are in public confidence, which will be reflected in the student attendance rate and the teacher attendance rate,” Bernier said, adding that those numbers can indicate the general well-being of district employees.

Not online-ready yet

CCSD is monitoring staff and student absences, with 1,894 teacher absences, 174 bus driver call-outs and 65 custodial absences reported for Thursday, all within expectations for the district, according to Bernier. Increasing staff absences have been linked to school and district closures in other states such as Washington.

Superintendent Jesus Jara said that other large public school districts are nowhere close to making a decision to close schools because of several factors that run the gamut from how to feed students to how to continue instruction.

“I can tell you right now we are not ready for an online learning opportunity across the school system,” Jara said in response to a question about the district’s ability to switch to online classes.

Thursday’s meeting went forward despite recent moves by the district to cancel school events, travel and athletics over fears of coronavirus spread. But only essential personnel presented items at the meeting according to a memo sent by the district Thursday afternoon.

Issues raised

Members of the public also attended to voice their concerns over how the district has handled its response to growing coronavirus cases nationally, from teachers concerned about the lack of cleaning supplies in their classrooms, to substitutes worried about losing their daily pay should schools close.

One student said that because his after-school activities were canceled, he and his friends went to a mall, potentially coming into contact with more people than he would have during his school event.

Jara said that he does not have the ability to close malls but that he hopes students go home after school.

Teacher Gregory Kempton said he lost count of how many of his students coughed or touched their faces during the day.

“When it enters my school, it will spread to many families,” Kempton said, adding he worries that being exposed to the disease would pose a risk to his pregnant wife.

Hourly employees would be paid if schools were to close, Bernier said. If individuals were to be called back for make-up days, federal aid might be available to fund their pay, he added.

Jara said the district has asked for guidance on pay for employee groups such as substitutes who are not paid when students aren’t in school.

Jara added that with federal aid available, the district will work to refund families who have lost money on trips and events canceled by the district over coronavirus fears. If schools were to close, there is no timeline on how much notice parents would get, he said.

Bernier said that if schools were to close for social distancing, the district would work to still provide meals to students possibly through a type of drive-thru, an option pioneered by Tacoma, Washington, public schools during the COVID-19 crisis.

“We were prepared before it started, but this is a situation that you or I have potentially never dealt with,” Bernier said.

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Contact Aleksandra Appleton at 702-383-0218 or aappleton@reviewjournal.com. Follow @aleksappleton on Twitter.