The Silver Mesa Recreation Center in North Las Vegas, shown Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020, will host a program that offers students live classroom instruction.
Published Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020 | 10:58 a.m.
Updated Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020 | 1:07 p.m.
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North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee is urging the Clark County School District to quickly and safely reopen schools, saying children who are historically underserved are falling further behind because of pandemic-forced closures.
If schools aren’t open by Jan. 15, North Las Vegas wants the district to rent its unused schools and bus fleet in the city to expand the Southern Nevada Urban Micro Academy.
The academy launched in August at city recreation centers to serve students in the first to eighth grades.
They receive live classroom instruction from a teacher, along with enrichment and extracurricular activities such as yoga, sports and art.
Lee said the academy has been a big success and has not seen any COVID-19 cases.
“Many of the students coming into our program were performing one or two grade levels below where they should and now almost all of the program’s participants at or above grade level,” Lee wrote in a letter to School District Superintendent Jesus Jara.
In urging the reopening of schools, Lee said internet access and at-home support for distance education remains a barrier for vulnerable North Las Vegas families.
They city is asking for grade-school students to immediately return to the classroom.
For middle school and high school students, the city asked to at least bring back extracurricular activities such as athletics and band.
“Our children need something to do. They need to feel productive,” Lee wrote.
If the city isn’t permitted to use school buildings, it at least wants the district to rent out desks “so we can quickly set them up in other public and private sector buildings to help our children.”
The Clark County School Board was scheduled to vote last month on a hybrid reopening proposal where students would have the option to attend school in-person two days a week.
But a second surge of coronavirus cases shelved the vote, and trustees have yet to revisit the topic. The state has seen record cases and deaths over the last month.
“I know we both care deeply about the education and wellbeing or our community’s children as well as the health and safety of CCSD’s wonderful teachers and staff,” Lee said.
“This worldwide pandemic has demonstrated the need to be nimble, creative and innovative in our efforts to safely provide services to our residents, and our community needs leadership willing to think outside the box and act; not just plan,” he said.
The academy, believed to be the first public-private partnership of its kind in Nevada, caps class sizes at 18 students and has space for up to 360 children, officials said. About 320 are enrolled now at two city recreation centers and a public library.
The program costs $2 a day, and need-based scholarships are available.
It can also accommodate students enrolled in School District online programs by providing an educational space and technology for the children to learn remotely. They can also participate in extracurricular activities.
That option is $20 daily, with need-based scholarships available.
The city initially funded the academy through a federal coronavirus assistance program, which is expiring. The City Council will be asked this week to approve $150,000 to keep it running for the second half of the school year, officials said.
If the School District grants access to its facilities, the city would expand the program to one school and provide bus service, officials said.
