Educators begin planning for reopening of Nevada schools

The state Department of Education has formed a Re-Opening of Schools Committee to help develop a plan for districts and charter schools to safely reopen Nevada’s K-12 public schools.

Superintendent Jhone Ebert said the committee will include state health officials, the 17 superintendents and staff, charter school leaders, safety experts and others. Plans are to begin meetings in May.

Gov. Steve Sisolak has directed that schools won’t reopen this school year but will continue operations by providing distance learning to the roughly 500,000 students in Nevada.

Ebert said that raises challenges including access to technology, training for the nearly 30,000 teachers in the state’s 700 schools and quality instruction materials.

The ACLU has already issued a statement saying failure to provide all students with access to the necessary technology would be a serious violation of their rights.

The department has also created the Nevada Distance Learning Collaborative to support educators and families to ensure participation in distance learning across the state.

She said that collaborative will leverage resources anticipated through the federal Coronavirus Relief and Economic Security Act to increase the ability to successfully teach at a distance.

“In addition to planning for the reopening of school buildings, we must continue to strengthen our capacity — both in resources and talent — to address the needs of every student, regardless of their access to technology, home support, ability or means,” said Ebert.