VICTOR JOECKS: Progress: Jara, CCSD speed up school reopenings

Here’s something you don’t get to write very often. Bravo to the Clark County School District.

On Wednesday, Superintendent Jesus Jara sped up on the district’s reopening plans. He announced that sixth-, ninth- and 12th-graders will return for hybrid instruction on March 22. That alone was an improvement on the previous plan of starting hybrid learning for only young students on Monday.

But there was more — a lot more. Every middle and high school student will have the option to do hybrid learning on April 6. In the best and most surprising news, all elementary school students will return to five-day-a-week classroom instruction in early April. Distance learning will remain as an option.

Yes, the district should have done this last August. But this is still great progress, especially compared to some other school districts. A California school district is currently planning to bring students back for one hour of in-person instruction a week.

There’s reason to be optimistic about next year, too. In response to a question asking whether students will be returning next fall, Jara said he doesn’t want “to go backwards, but to go forwards.”

Jara deserves a lot of credit. Last summer, he pushed for some in-person instruction, which didn’t happen. In November, he publicly pushed for reopening in January. He pulled back when it became obvious he didn’t have enough support from the Board of Trustees.

In January, he brought national attention on the need to reopen the district. He spoke with The New York Times about how school closures were contributing to student suicides. It’s safe to assume district communications staff pitched that story with his approval.

Don’t overlook what was at stake for Jara personally. His contract is up in June. It’s plausible that pushing to reopen could have cost him his job, especially if a couple of trustee elections had gone differently.

It still could. It’s more likely the board extends him by default. His contract automatically extends for one year, absent written notice from the board. That notice is due Friday. On Wednesday, Jara said he hadn’t received it yet. That may change at the Thursday school board meeting, but it’s not on the agenda.

A superintendent can’t do it alone. Trustees deserve credit, too. Four trustees — board president Linda Cavazos, Lola Brooks, Lisa Guzman and Katie Williams — were scheduled to attend the press conference announcing the changes. That indicates the new timeline has the support of a majority of the board. Good.

Even the employee unions deserve recognition. They showed up in support, too. The Clark County Education Association’s past foot dragging, however, shouldn’t be forgotten.

This announcement is also the result of the hard work for parents and students who spent months mobilizing and speaking out. Efforts by North Las Vegas officials deserve special praise. They called the district out publicly and even pioneered alternatives for in-person learning.

There’s still a lot of work to do, especially because Jara refuses to hold kids back who didn’t learn much in the past year. But this is a step forward worth celebrating.

Victor Joecks’ column appears in the Opinion section each Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Contact him at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on Twitter.