Coming up on Student Spotlight, you are invited to listen in on two very important discussions.

High school students from around the Clark County School District join us in studio to talk about chronic absenteeism and mental health.

So very impressed by these students, and we think you will be too.

A very special Student Spotlight starts right now.

[swiping sound] Thank you so much for joining us.

I'm your host, Maria Silva.

I'm so excited for this special episode of Student Spotlight, because you are going to hear straight from students on two big issues facing the Clark County School District.

And we're talking about chronic absenteeism and student mental health.

The students you'll meet here in our studios are part of the Superintendent's Student Advisory Council.

The Council is a group of high school students representing high schools in the Clark County School District.

Every high school has the opportunity to participate.

The students meet regularly to learn more about district issues and provide a student perspective.

Their voice is important.

(Dr. Brenda Larsen-Mitchell) The information that they talk about during these meetings is shared with district leadership, and we really listen to ways that we may shape policy, that we may shape regulations, or things that we might need to change to make school a better experience for all students.

-And the students are ready to share their thoughts with you as well.

So let's get started with our first of two panels.

The topic is chronic absenteeism, which is defined as missing 10% or more of enrolled school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.

And let's quickly introduce our panel.

Go ahead.

Welcome.

-Hi.

I'm Peyton Burtsell.

I go to Liberty High School, and I joined the Council just because it was an opportunity to make change.

-Hi.

I'm Ava Meeks.

I go to West Tech.

I'm in 11th grade, and I joined the Council because I wanted to have a bigger impact to my school.

-I'm Layla Driscoll.

I'm a junior at Rancho High School, and I joined because I wanted to be a voice for my peers.

-Hi.

I'm Jermaine Autry.

I go to Central Technical Training Academy, and I joined just to make a change in our district.

-And I watched you all walk in together, and it made my heart so happy, because I could tell that you genuinely admire and respect each other.

You attend different schools.

There's always rivalries here and there, but you all have-- you're all on the same mission.

And today, we're talking about two very important topics, and we are going to start with chronic absenteeism.

How big of a problem is it that you've noticed at your school?

-It is a bit of a problem because I know people who don't come to school just because they don't want to.

So lack of motivation there.

-I would definitely agree.

But at my school, I would say more like the mental health aspect of it.

A lot of students struggle with that and just don't want to pull up to school.

-We'll talk about mental health in the next panel.

That's also an important topic.

-I think it can be seen as a bigger problem just because I have a bigger population, but it's definitely very noticeable in each class.

-Go ahead.

-I'd say at my school, it's not a problem.

-Really?

-I come from a hybrid school with a small student body, so when a student doesn't show up, it's definitely concerning just for the teachers, counselors, and even students.

But I definitely do think in larger schools, it is a big problem.

-That's really interesting.

I would never think that.

I would think that all the schools have different issues with chronic absenteeism.

And that's, that's good.

That's good to know.

Let's talk about during one of your meetings, you did, they did discuss some of the root causes, the Clark County School District did give you some of, five reasons a student could be chronically absent.

And I will go over them.

One was basic needs not being met; two, childcare; and, three, academic gaps for physical and mental health, which we talked about that; and then sense of belonging.

You were also asked during that meeting to list your own reasons.

What did you list?

-Well, I had a sense of belonging-- a lack of a sense of belonging.

When you don't have connections at school, it does make it harder to find the motivation to come there.

Another one would be a lack of care or motivation in your academics.

Students usually get senioritis halfway, halfway through the year.

-I remember that.

-Definitely.

And another one would be transportation.

-Yes.

-Yes, we do have busses, but they don't-- they do not go everywhere.

And some parents don't have the transportation that their child needs.

-And what are you noticing at your school?

-Basically the same things as him.

A lot of people that I know, their parents both work, so their parents aren't really able to take them.

So they either have to, like, find the bus, which isn't very reliable, or they have to find friends.

Or as well as a lot of people at my school, so like, it's also the lack of care.

They're like, Oh, well.

I'm already behind anyway, so it's not going to make a difference.

-What did you notice at your school?

-Yeah.

Very similar to what they were saying.

But I think particularly for my school, it's the mental health aspect.

Like, we have a ton of academics, and everyone's trying very hard, which is good, but I think sometimes it gets too much and they're like, Well, what if I stay home and don't have to deal with it?

-I definitely agree with the sense of belonging part, because if you're not comfortable at school, you won't want to be there.

-I know having grown up as a first-generation student, I had the responsibility of helping with my younger siblings.

And a lot of students do have that responsibility, where they have to make sure that their younger siblings are ready for school before they go to school.

And there could be so many different other issues at home that maybe a teacher doesn't know the student is going through.

How are you helping your peers at your schools?

Let's go ahead and start.

-I think individually, I like to motivate or try and influence the way if my friends do come to school or not.

Like, Well, I only have this exam, and I already have an A in class, like, Well, you should come because you can have a conversation with me or just find an outside perspective for them.

-How about you?

-Very similar, but I think positivity goes a long way, especially since I was going with the mental health.

Like, just having that open mind and a positive view can sometimes really help.

-For me, I help more when it comes to the lack of care.

Like when people are behind and they don't feel the need to come because they're already behind, like, I can help you catch up or help you with the notes or whatever you missed.

-What about you?

-I definitely agree with that.

I motivate my friends with just a helping hand is all that you need sometimes.

Just someone that you know that cares about your absence at school is all you need to bring you to school for the rest of the week.

-I love what you're doing.

That makes me happy.

And let's also talk, of course, it takes a village, right?

It's not just our teachers and our school administrators and our students.

It's a community effort to make sure that we combat this issue.

And during your meeting, you did hear from an attendance enforcement officer, correct?

How many-- were you at that meeting?

Okay, perfect.

I love it.

All of you, good attendance!

What was the biggest takeaway?

Also, I want to hear some of the tasks or responsibilities that come with that job, because it is a difficult job.

They're going to homes to make home visits, to make sure the students or parents are aware of what's going on.

Did anything surprise you during the presentation?

-Yeah.

I definitely think-- I didn't know what was considered chronic absenteeism.

I didn't know that unexcused and excused absences counted towards it.

-Yeah, neither did I until this.

-Yeah.

-For sure.

And I think, like you were saying, the home visits, I did not know that happened.

I thought that was a cool thing, that they went to check on families.

So that, for sure, surprised me.

-Yeah, thousands of visits that they're doing, which is good.

Again, we are making progress when it comes to chronic absenteeism.

Again, it's not just an issue impacting the Clark County School District, it's nationwide.

So it's good to know that things are being done to make sure that we do curb the problem.

-Going off the home visits, I didn't know that they also would help families who are struggling by bringing them basic supplies.

I didn't know they did that too.

-I would say just the big ratio between, I think it was one officer to 1,500 students, around that.

And that's definitely not enough.

-Yeah.

-It was just the amount of students that they have to deal with is like, the impact that they have definitely decreases.

-Yeah.

I want to say thanks in part to the district and community-wide efforts.

As we mentioned, CCSD does estimate that approximately a 9 percentage point reduction in chronic absenteeism over the last two years.

So that's pretty huge when we think about it.

And, of course, we have to talk about the pandemic had a big impact on what's going on with chronic absenteeism as well.

Now, I do want to ask you, what are some of the suggestions that you touched on already that you gave when it comes to combating chronic absenteeism at your schools, because that's a great thing about your council, right, is that you give your suggestions and your perspective as students who are there in front every single day with the other students.

What were some of the things you suggested?

-There was a recommendation I really liked.

It was when a student communicates with a teacher why they've been absent, especially if they've been gone for a month, that the teacher would give them a little leeway.

Maybe not giving them just 100s on the assignments they missed, but maybe excusing them so it gave them a better opportunity to catch up.

-Love that.

-I think, particularly for my school, like, the workload is a lot.

So having an opportunity for like a study hall or something or where you can ask teachers for extra help could be very beneficial for us.

-I think the opportunity just to bond with your classmates and have some sort of community within your classroom that you know is somewhat of a safe space or have a friend to come to.

-I know on a personal level, you know, not being able to have sometimes, you know, the designer clothes.

Not that you need that to go to school, but it's such an important part of being a student.

And if you're wearing, you know, the same shoes every day, it does impact you.

It does.

It affects you.

And I know with, again, you have Communities in Schools, and there are other organizations that are making sure that these students have basic needs, and that's such an important part of being a student, right?

So any other organizations that you're aware of?

-At my school, I know recently they started making more announcements about it.

They have like, closets with clothes.

Especially, I think on Monday after finals, they made an announcement for people, like, Oh, there's extra jackets if anyone needs them, because they don't have any.

There's been a couple, like, conventions where they have like, like a lot of people come out just to, I think it was for the homeless, to help those people out.

-Again, there's no shame in going and ask for help, right?

And that's so important.

What advice would you give these students who might need help?

-It's not bad to reach out for help.

Sometimes students will think it's humiliating to reach out, but I feel like any reason, any reason is a good reason.

And no one should come after you, or you shouldn't doubt yourself for having someone to help you out.

-And it's not your fault that you're going through this, you know?

It's not, a lot of times, your parents' fault as well.

So it's, yeah, it's important what you're doing.

And this sometimes comes back to being bullied, as well, for these kids.

So what advice would you give these students?

-My advice would probably be to take the first step.

A lot of people in these situations are at a loss, like they don't really know where to start.

So I'd be like, I would say, just try something, anything, because then next thing you know, that could end up helping you out a lot.

-And I think also, going off of that, there's always someone willing to help.

So no matter what, I'm sure you can find.

-I agree.

I think people do have good intentions.

If you do reach out, it's not going to be a negative experience for you.

People do want to help.

-So be on the lookout for these students at your schools, right?

And like, there's-- Mr. Rogers would always say, Look up for the helpers.

You guys are great helpers.

So thank you so much.

Appreciate you guys.

I'm happy.

My heart is happy.

Thank you for what you're doing.

We are switching up the panel to welcome our second group from the Superintendent's Student Advisory Council and have another candid discussion.

And now it's time to get into our second topic, another very important topic impacting our CCSD students, mental health.

And again, let's go ahead around the table, introduce yourselves.

-My name is Nyla Gardner.

I'm in 12th grade, and I go to Foothill High School.

And the reason I joined the Superintendent's Council is because I want to have a voice for the students that aren't able to have one.

-My name is Alyssa Freeman.

I go to Las Vegas High School.

I'm a senior, and I joined the Council so I could be a voice for my school and for my peers.

-Hi, my name is Magally Zacarias.

I go to SECTA High School, and I joined the Council because it's just a really good opportunity for my school and for myself to bring back all of the knowledge from all the other schools that we can better and help our community.

-And my name is Spencer Oshins.

I'm a senior at West Career and Technical Academy, and I joined SSAC so that I could have a platform to advocate for change.

-Oh, I love it that you're all a voice and you're advocating for your fellow students.

And we are going to talk about mental health, again.

It's something that's very important right now.

So many students are dealing with it for various reasons, whether, you know, the aftermath of the pandemic, to stuff that they're going through at home, and also bullying, a big issue.

What are some of the issues impacting students right now in the Clark County School District that you see at your particular school when it comes to mental health?

-I personally see a lot of social media when it comes to mental health, because it shows a false reality in some sort of way.

Living in a perfect reality, especially in high school, is unrealistic.

And it's just not helping them with the workload or the school load and looking at colleges and just trying to get through everyday life.

I think social media is playing a really big role in just not making it better.

-And you know, I agree with you, because had we had social media when I was growing up, it would be a whole different thing.

That's something that we didn't have to deal with.

What are some issues you're seeing?

-I was definitely going to touch on what Nyla said, especially because I was thinking that exact same thing, especially because social media is being used so prevalently now, especially to promote a lot of our things that we're doing.

Especially as a Student Council member and someone who is an ambassador for the ITV production, which is a lot of our social media usage, I feel like, agreeing with you, we are constantly comparing ourselves.

And it's just, yeah, I 100% agree.

-So how are you helping your fellow students to make sure that doesn't impact your mental health?

-Well, you have to reduce it on your own, because you can't just, like, tell everyone to stop using social media.

It's very big in our lives.

But I do run my Speech and Debate's social media account, so making sure that we post positive things and making sure that we post things that make people happy, show that people are happy and enjoying themselves, and not just like false things like only winning and only these things.

Like, we have to show our losses too.

-Love that.

-Yeah, I agree.

And also being, making sure that you involve other clubs and activities to be a part of it.

-What about you?

-Yeah.

Along with that social media, but it's like along a different route.

It's students talking about each other and constantly gossiping with each other instead of comparing.

Because a lot of the time they're like, Oh, someone said this about me.

Like, it just causes a lot of problems and a lot of like, anger, like, Oh, she was talking about me.

She was posting about me.

I don't understand.

And just like, constantly talking bad about each other.

-How do you deal with that?

-I personally, I just try to stay off social media as much as I can.

I'm trying.

Like, I involve myself in other activities or hobbies that I can so I can just let it go or not interact with it.

-And it's okay to take a social media break.

I do it.

It's important as an adult to do that as well.

Again, it's this double-edged sword, right?

You needed to get information, but at the same time, there's so much negativity out that-- out there that it does impact you, no matter your age.

-Yeah, I think there's mental health taboo to the point where we kind of neglect that it exists.

And I want to be part of the generation that redefines mental health, because I think it's very important to have an open dialog about mental health and be able to go to people where you can openly talk about your feelings.

I'm very fortunate that I have adults in my life and friends where I can have those open conversations.

-And for those who don't have that at home, or adults, that's where you come in, right?

And how are you helping your fellow students?

-I think just sitting down at the lunch table and having an open conversation.

We live in a very polarizing world where we're divided, and we have all of these external forces that want to divide us.

For example, politically.

But being able to sit down and have an honest conversation about your day is unbelievably healthy.

-Yeah, and helping out the students who might be getting bullied, because that is, again, that was an issue when I was growing up.

It's, you know, spanned generations.

And how are you helping those students who you know are sitting alone, maybe by themselves, because they are being bullied or because they don't have the latest design or fashion or whatever they might be going through at home.

How are you helping your fellow students?

-Well, just being open.

And if you see someone that's sitting alone, you have to invite them over.

Like, even if your, like your friends are like, Don't invite them over.

Don't invite them over.

Be open, because what if they're going through a really rough day?

Just asking them to sit with you, even if they say no and don't want to sit with you is making that difference.

Like, smiling at someone makes the biggest difference every day.

-And like you said, that smile, just that, you know, inviting them could change their life and possibly save a life.

-Yes, and I 100% agree with you, especially just giving compliments sometimes.

I also think it's important to get involved.

At times you don't want to get involved, or you don't want to make someone feel uncomfortable, but sometimes you have to get uncomfortable to get comfortable.

And I think that's something that needs to be talked about.

-And you are our eyes, again.

You're out there.

You know, sometimes the teachers or the parents or the counselors that are not seeing this, and you guys are the ones out there.

What are some of the programs that have been implemented at your school to help the students?

-Yeah, we have a program that's implemented all around CCSD, SafeVoice, and it's like a online anonymous hotline that you can call or text or email or anything if you ever need any sort of help regarding mental health, bullying, a specific situation, if you feel the comfort that you're not, like, Oh, I don't want to snitch.

I don't want to deal with the repercussions.

It leaves it totally anonymous.

So it's like, I'm, I can freely say this.

I can help someone in need.

I can help myself, and, just like, help any person in our district.

-And what else?

-Yeah.

So my school has brought mental health to the classroom.

Our administration implemented a Hope campaign where, every month, we learn about the different lenses of hope and how to take advantage of hope.

-And what other programs does your school or CCSD have right now to help you out?

-We have Hope Squad, which is a group of students that are around us every day that we walk with in the halls.

And they meet separately, just like Student Council.

And they host like spirit weeks, but they're weeks of respect, where they put certain things, like words of affirmation on your backpack or they'll give you mints that have words of affirmation on them.

And they will go together to make sure that everyone that needs help will get it.

-I love it.

-Yes, I 100% agree.

I know at my school, we do have a Hope Squad, but it's not something that is talked about enough, kind of what Spencer was saying.

It's very much underground.

I know they do a lot at our school, but I personally do not know.

It's just something Spencer said.

Spencer said it needs to be talked about a lot more and campaigned.

-My biggest takeaway from SSAC is that resources exist.

We're just not taking advantage of them, and we need to increase the visibility.

One way we could do that is social media.

But as you alluded to earlier, it's absolutely a double-edged sword.

-Yeah.

But again, it's also important to get the information out right, as well, the proper information.

I want to say, during one of your meetings, you heard about the role of social workers within your schools.

You were given some stats.

I want to go over some of those.

We're going to put those up.

There are only 182 school social workers for about 290,000 CCSD students.

122 different schools have a social worker.

253 don't.

That is one school social worker for every 1,593 students.

The national ratio is 1 to 250 students.

How surprised were you to hear these numbers, and what needs to be done?

-Yeah.

As a future educator myself, I know all of the things that we're missing, as in the-- in our district and districts all around the country or around the world.

Specifically, we were lacking counselors, teachers, support staff, and social workers.

So I wasn't really shocked to hear these numbers, which I am very disappointed and have hope that we're gonna get through this and get all of these support for our students.

But I was not very shocked.

-Wow, thank you.

Future educator here.

Go ahead.

-Yeah, I agree.

Within CCSD, I was not too surprised, especially since we did have a teacher shortage and especially because a lot of other schools I have talked to, a lot of their leaders don't even know what a social worker is or have it implemented within their school.

-Now, have you visited-- your school has a social worker?

-Yes.

-Have you visited with your social worker?

-I haven't visited with like a meeting, but I have talked to her, and I see her working.

And she's so helpful for all the students.

Like, she's so welcoming and able to have a real conversation and not feel uncomfortable.

-So out of your four schools, do you have a social-- I know you do.

You do.

-I do.

-Your school does not.

Okay, but you have wonderful counselors.

-Wonderful, wonderful counselors.

Yes.

-Now, how do you plan to work with your counselors and your social workers at your school to help your fellow students?

What are you planning to do?

-I know counselors and social workers are very similar in a way, and I love how our counselors sometimes come into our classrooms with presentations to explain what they do or how they can help us.

I feel if social workers were to do the same thing, that would be very beneficial to put a face to the name.

-I've actually talked with my social worker.

Yeah, the wonderful Miss Lewis-Sutton.

Yeah, we are coming up with a plan right now to help our students or get it out there that she is there.

She is help that our students are able to get.

We're going to focus on, yes, social media, because our school has a very big presence online, and our accounts are really shown in our students, and our students follow the accounts on Instagram.

So having those like-- because we don't really have like, Oh, we have a social worker.

It's on our website, but students don't really go into depth in their website.

-So it's a matter of you also helping fellow students getting the word out.

What about you and your counselor?

-So we have one-on-ones at our school.

I don't know about you guys, but my mental health, a lot of my anxiety is derived from academic stress, so having one-on-ones with my academic counselor helps me prepare for the future and lay out a road map, which, I don't know, to me helps kind of mitigate that stress.

-And I love that you're open about that, because at times there is shame, right, that you have anxiety--I know I have it--or that you're going through whatever you might be going through at home, and it's okay, right, to talk about it.

And that's what's so important.

I love that.

Don't be ashamed to talk, because that's going to help.

I do want to ask another thing that I noticed when you guys were giving your recommendation was that, in your feedback, that it was suggested that mental health days should be implemented for students.

Now, how many days would you suggest and why?

-I feel like once a month is really good, because you just need that break sometimes.

But you don't want it so often to where we have to elongate school, because that would just make it even worse.

So once a month, once a month or once every two months, just to give everyone that break.

-I 100% agree.

I said once a month as well.

But then, after talking with Magally, she made a point that sometimes you're not only gonna have a mental health problem once a month and you need more than one day.

So I think my stance is kind of changing on this.

So she said two to four, but instead of two just in a year or within a semester, I think there should be two to four or two to four within a month.

-Yeah, I totally said, like, four to five a year or a semester, because a lot of things can happen really quickly within time, like, what, you can be fine one day and completely wrecked the other.

So having those days available that don't impact like, Oh, I have unexcused absences.

I don't have any more.

So they're worried about that instead of worrying on fixing their mental health or that break that they may need.

So having that, those four to five days are like they can use whenever, I think would be good.

-How about you?

-We are such a vibrant school district.

I believe we're the fifth largest school district in the country.

I don't know if there's a "one size fits all" program to accommodate for all of our schools, but I would advocate for a change of regular programming.

So instead of going from Class A to B to C to D, maybe going from Class A to B to having a little lunch party with your class and then Class C to D. -Well, thank you so much.

I have a big smile.

As Tia Maria to 26 nephews and nieces, I know they're in good hands, especially with students like yourselves.

Thank you for what you're doing, and, again, so proud of each of you.

I'm adopting you.

Tia Maria to all of you now.

So thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Big smile on my face.

A big thank you to the Superintendent's Student Advisory Council and the district's Engagement Unit for helping us with this very important show.

The students, by the way, will present a report to the CCSD Board of Trustees later in the school year.

We applaud their commitment to the Council and the School District.

And a quick reminder that you can find this episode and past episodes of Student Spotlight on the Vegas PBS website and YouTube page.

Thank you so much for watching, and we will see you next month.

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