CCSD Superintendent Dr. Jesus Jara fist bumps a third-grade student at Wengert Elementary School as he and State Superintendent Jhone Ebert welcome students on the first day of in-person school, Monday March 1, 2021.
Monday, Aug. 8, 2022 | 2 a.m.
Clark County School District Superintendent Jesus Jara is optimistic about the new school year beginning today.
There’s plenty to address, as CCSD is dealing with a teacher shortage of about 1,400 educators and working to get some students back on track after lost learning the past two academic years because of the pandemic.
But the new beginnings of a new year bring hope, Jara indicated.
The Sun sat down with Jara for a wide-ranging chat ahead of the new year. Here is some of what was discussed, which has been edited for clarity and brevity:
How have the district’s new financial incentives helped with staff recruitment and retention so far?
Anecdotally … we are seeing that it’s helped our educators to recruit.
It did have a huge help in bus drivers. We opened school last year with about 250 vacancies. We have 84 (now). So 94% of our bus routes are filled.
What pandemic learning losses will CCSD focus most on repairing this year?
(In) preliminary data, we’re seeing some improvements academically in elementary. We have to continue to accelerate that work. Middle school is something we need to look at — and what do we do differently to support our kids that are struggling?
We have to really take a close look, which is what we’re doing now — how do we partner and continue to attract educators to go into our most underserved and neediest communities, where our kids need us the most? That is something that I’m really focused on coming out of this pandemic. How do we do school differently, to look at more hands-on, projects-based learning, and the ongoing professional learning for educators — for our principals, for our staff, to be able to give them the resources they need.
We are going into our second full year of being back to being in-person. Last year was rough for student behavior. Do you expect to see that calm down?
I sure hope so. That’s the expectation of principals (who) are ready to set the tone.
Is CCSD prepared for distance learning or other rapid response should there be another major spike in COVID? And also monkeypox.
We’re ready. One of the things we learned in COVID is to be flexible and be quick to respond. Our chief health officer, Monica Cortez, is in constant communication with the Southern Nevada Health District. The mitigation strategies are there. With distance education, some systems are ready to go. We are ready to respond.
What are you most proud of going into your fifth year with CCSD?
The way that we were able to open schools. As an urban superintendent, with my bargaining units together, we all put children first. When we went back to hybrid and we made that announcement and came in with an agreement from (the Clark County Education Association, Clark County Association of School Administrators, Education Support Employees Association), my police union, together to say, “We have to do something and come together,” where my colleagues in other parts of the country were fighting with their unions. That to me is one.
I have a lot to be proud of, to be honest.
No. 2 is the finances. Not myself, but with the cabinet and the executive team. When I got here, I would say we were in arbitration. We were bankrupt. And our finances where we are (now), we haven’t cut a budget in four years. There’s more discipline in how we spend money, with a clear focus on children.
No. 3 , the adoption of the anti-racism policy. That is probably a national model, how we did that.
And last one is that me, the staff — that’s the principals, the teachers, the ones who are working really hard on behalf of kids, support staff, everybody that’s committed — I am proud of their work. The 42,000 employees we have that served this community during the pandemic and beyond, and what we’re headed to coming this year.
