Friday, July 24, 2020 | 7:05 p.m.
RENO — Reno-area school trustees are reconsidering plans to reopen Washoe County schools Aug. 12, after the county health officer raised concerns that in-school classes could further spread the coronavirus.
Health officer Kevin Dick told the county Board of Health on Thursday he could not recommend reopening schools amid growing virus concerns.
“Distance learning is the safest path forward at this time," he said.
Earlier this week, unions representing Washoe County teachers, principals and support staff sent a letter to district leadership demanding distance-only education for the first nine weeks of the school year due to safety concerns.
Clark County School District trustees cited fears of spreading the coronavirus while deciding this week to keep classrooms dark and choose online education for some 300,000 students in the Las Vegas area in the semester starting next month.
Washoe County’s virus load has climbed to 190.8 over the past 14 days — 90 more than the 100-case threshold set by Gov. Steve Sisolak, officials said.
Dick will make a formal presentation Tuesday to school trustees, who will “have the option of making decisions based upon this recommendation during the meeting,” Board President Malena Raymond and Superintendent Kristen McNeill said in a joint statement.
They said they are prioritizing the health and well-being of the school district's 64,000 students and more than 8,000 staff members.
The developments came as state health officials reported nearly 41,000 people have tested positive for the coronavirus. At least 13 more have died, bringing total deaths to 722.
Nevada’s unemployment rate remains the highest in the nation, at 22%, and state officials said Friday they charted a fourth straight increase in first-time claims for weekly jobless benefits.
The State Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation said more than 571,000 people have filed unemployment claims since Sisolak declared a state of emergency March 12 due to the pandemic.
DETR acknowledged receiving fraudulent filings for benefits. It tallied more than 330,000 claims but only about 122,000 benefits paid for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance to independent contractors and gig workers. The department noted the extra $600 in weekly unemployment benefits, provided by the federal government, is set to expire next week.
Department Administrator Kimberly Gaa told reporters on a conference call that people who are still due $600 weekly payments will be paid.
Sisolak, state Attorney General Aaron Ford and U.S. Attorney Nicholas Trutanich issued advisories this week about unemployment benefit fraud, and Gaa said disbursement of funds was slowed by efforts to identify bogus claims.
Nevada will be one of four states testing what state community health official Julia Peek called a vaccine administration management system program.
The project aims to develop accurate and accessible COVID-19 vaccination registry information for reporting and analysis.
