LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The new school year is just days away for thousands of students across the Clark County School District, and I am committed to holding district leaders accountable by getting answers to the questions you have been asking us.
Thursday, I sat down one-on-one with CCSD's new superintendent Jhone Ebert who outlined her top priorities for the coming school year.
Watch my full one-on-one with Superintendent Jhone Ebert here
When it comes to your children and their educational environment, I know that many of you have deeper questions and concerns. So I brought them to her.
The Concern: Student and staff safety
Safety remains a top priority for parents following past incidents where guns were brought onto campus, along with fights and bullying issues.
"This school year we are on the move to make sure that we build out our partnerships, we build out our communication and we have trust built out in our school district," Ebert said.
The district is implementing several security measures including panic buttons and enhanced security cameras. However, Ebert emphasized that people are the most critical component of school safety.
"All of those components are part of the picture, but the biggest part of that picture is people. We need to make sure first and foremost that families that have guns at home that they are locked up," Ebert said.
Ebert stressed that no child should have access to firearms under any circumstances. The district is working toward implementing single-point entry systems at all 374 schools, though not all facilities have this security feature yet.
Teachers have been equipped with emergency buttons in classrooms, and recent legislation signed by Gov. Joe Lombardo has empowered educators to remove disruptive students from their classrooms.
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The Concern: Teacher retention and finances
When I asked about teacher retention and recruitment, Ebert acknowledged the importance of appropriate compensation.
"Not only are salaries very important, they're very important. We want our staff, all of our staff, not just teachers, but we have 44,000 employees. We want them to be compensated appropriately," Ebert said.
Financial management is another significant concern for families in the district. Ebert addressed transparency issues by noting that a compliance monitor has been put in place, with a report scheduled for the August 14 board meeting.
"Open book. All of our expenditures, what we use every single dollar is made available already on the web," Ebert said.
Ebert also highlighted funding challenges facing the district, pointing out that our local education system is among the lowest funded in the nation.
"What people have to remember is that we are one of the lowest funding education systems in the nation. The national average is over $15,000 per child. We're at $9,800," Ebert said.
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The Concern: Immigration and performance
Ebert is urging all families to send their children to school regardless of immigration status, while also addressing plans to improve student performance in the district.
Some parents have expressed fears about immigration enforcement near schools, with some considering keeping their children home. Ebert emphasized that education must remain the priority.
"First and foremost, your kids need to be in school. I understand the fear. I see it. I've had conversations with families and students," Ebert said.
Ebert revealed that district leadership has been in communication with local authorities regarding immigration enforcement activities.
"I personally and our chief of police have had conversations with the local authorities and they need to do and have told us they're gonna do their business off of our campuses. They don't need to have whatever work they need to do happen in a pre-K-12 setting," Ebert said.
The superintendent stressed the importance of consistent school attendance for all children.
"The child, every single child needs to be in our classrooms learning. They need to be with their friends every single day," Ebert said.
When asked about academic performance concerns, particularly that Clark County 4th graders are approximately half a year behind expected achievement levels, Ebert expressed confidence in the district's resources.
"Our schools do have the resources that they need. All materials are tier one instructional materials are in every single classroom for the Clark County School District whether elementary, middle or high school," Ebert said.
Ebert identified chronic absenteeism as a major factor affecting student achievement, noting that over 30% of students were missing more than 10% of school days.
"The chronic absenteeism rate right there were over 30% of our children were missing more than 10% of their schooling. That means 18 days of school a year or more they were missing," Ebert said.
Despite these challenges, Ebert expressed optimism about the upcoming school year.
"This year we are absolutely going to surpass our pre-pandemic proficiency rates where our students are achieving. We're gonna see great gains. The team is ready. We had a kick off earlier this week. Our teachers are ready and I believe our students or family are ready as well," Ebert said.
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