A new contract compensates Clark County's veteran teachers.

(Jhone Ebert) I heard from a lot of our veteran educators.

You know, "Superintendent, this is something that needs to be addressed."

-But with a minimal increase in funding from the state, how will the school district afford it?

Superintendent Jhone Ebert answers that question and more this week on Nevada Week.

♪♪ Support for Nevada Week is provided by Senator William H. Hernstadt.

-Welcome to Nevada Week.

I'm Amber Renee Dixon.

The Clark County School District approved a new contract with the teachers union, the Clark County Education Association.

It runs through the 2026-2027 school year and includes yearly raises and more benefits worth about $214 million according to the school district.

That's a 10% increase in value when compared to the last contract.

However, unlike that contract, the new contract does not coincide with a substantial boost in education funding from the state.

So where's the money coming from?

That's one of several questions we asked Clark County School District Superintendent, Jhone Ebert.

All right.

Well, Superintendent, you have been in this role since April, but you just got through the first week of school as the new superintendent.

What were your takeaways?

Any surprises or anything that validated what you had already thought?

-It was an amazing first week of school, and validated by principals, by parents, everything.

I started the day, the very first day of school, 5:15-ish, 5:30 in our bus yard with our bus drivers to kick it off.

And I actually shared the story earlier this morning with someone of how I asked the one bus driver, you know, Are you excited?

And she said she was really excited because she actually is going to have the same route that she had last year, and she was excited to see the students that she remembers.

And building that relationship is so important.

So from our bus drivers to food service to making sure that our air conditioning was running, that was a big thing.

The whole entire team did an amazing job, and it was a great week.

-Do you have enough bus drivers this school year?

-Well, we never have enough of anything.

But what I will say is, yes, we have a 96% fill rate for our bus drivers.

And so what that means is that we bring in substitutes, substitute bus drivers, so all of our routes are still being covered, just not with full-time employees.

-Okay.

As far as safety, always an issue during the first week of school, a concern.

What about the metal detectors?

Are they at all high schools now, or are they only at certain times?

-I really appreciate that question, because within the Clark County School District, we don't have like when you go to the airport and you see these big-- that's not what we have.

We have more low profile weapon detection systems in place.

They are random across our entire school district, and so we did have them deployed the first week.

I actually attended football games on Friday night, and they were there as well.

You know, it's keeping our schools, as you mentioned, safe.

Health and safety is top of mind always.

And so hitting that safety component with our school police, having the weapon detection systems available random, all of those pieces are part of the entire system.

-Are those mobile, or are they permanent fixtures?

-Yeah, they're mobile.

-Okay.

-Yes.

-So they're not in every school, every high school, at all times?

-No.

-Is there a plan to make that...?

-Not at this moment in time.

-Okay.

What about the emergency buttons?

Are they in all classrooms at this point?

-They are.

Every single educator does have a badge that they wear, and they can just hold it, and immediately we will know that they are asking for assistance right away.

And so, yes, that is 100% all of our classrooms, our central offices locations as well.

-You started the school year with the lowest number of vacancies in decades.

How do you think you accomplished that?

-Oh, my gosh.

I wish I could say it was a, you know-- It's a large team that made sure that happened.

And it actually goes back to not just this past legislative session, but the 2023 legislative session when the Governor Lombardo and the legislature put forward additional funding so we're able to compensate our staff.

Those contracts two years ago had an increase of almost 20% across the entire state.

So long overdue compensation.

So that's one of the areas.

But also, too, making sure--you mentioned safety, right--that we have safe environments where our staff, you know, want to come to work.

A big thing that we're working on is making sure that everyone has joy in their job.

When you're happy coming to work, a lot of people saying-- -How do you do that?

-Yeah.

Well, making sure voices are heard, that people are heard; that we have great learning conditions for all of our staff; that people have the tools that they need, large investments in what we call Tier 1 instructional materials, so across our entire school district.

There's common English language arts materials, there's common math materials, there's common science materials.

We have a large transiency rate in our school district, and so having those common materials helps the child, but also it helps our educators.

So if you move, you decide, I'm at an elementary school and I personally have moved to a different house, I want to be closer, you know that the same materials and expectations will be at that new school as well.

So the common pieces of our school district where we can lift up and engage our staff, provide, again, resources that they need to do their job, you want to stay on the job when you have those things.

-Yeah.

Continuity is important.

When you are talking about retention of teachers, that's going to be a big part of this upcoming collective bargaining agreement, as I understand it.

It's Tuesday morning, as we speak, and it is this evening when you may be voting on whether to approve that.

What are you looking to do with that new contract?

-Yeah.

Really excited that we were able to work with the teachers union, CCEA, to make sure that not only it is a good contract, fair, addressing many different aspects.

The school board will vote tonight on it.

It is inclusive of what we call "steps for longevity," that you've been here; and then also "columns," which, if you have attained additional learning that will improve your practice, you will move in that area; and then also the health benefits and a couple other things within the contract.

Actually, safety is a huge piece in there.

There's some updated language that teachers will receive information if something had transpired in their classroom within 24 hours.

So that goes to the working conditions, right, the whole piece?

It's not just about compensation, but it is about the working and learning conditions as well.

-But about compensation, this new contract compared to the previous one, this is going to-- or intends to make up for the fact that veteran teachers were getting paid just as much as new teachers?

-Yes, yes.

So thank you.

The-- In this aspect, in the prior contract, there was a negotiation made that, what we call, compacted some salaries.

And so if you and I were teaching the same subject and you may be two years into teaching and I am six years into teaching, we may not be making equivalent pay.

And so, yes, I was really excited.

I heard from a lot of our veteran educators.

You know, "Superintendent, this is something that needs to be addressed."

And within this contract, we are addressing veteran educators, and we are making sure, number one, that if they want to have where they're placed currently on the salary schedule looked at, reassessed, that we will do that and that we will make movement on the salary schedule.

We don't know at this moment in time how many educators will want to take advantage of this opportunity.

We do have the $10 million each year that's going to be made available to to do that, but we're going to go through a process, and those teachers, you know, will be notified on how to attain that additional compensation.

-So they will be notified if they are eligible and then what the next steps are that they need to take?

-They will need to turn in and demonstrate, you know, if they've taken additional professional learning.

We want to make sure that they're placed properly, so they will need to be proactive first and turning in the documentation.

It will be evaluated, and then we will move forward once we have that information.

-So here's the thing: The school district has had, has been questioned about its management of money in the past.

So we talked about the past teachers contract.

Those raises that helped bring in a lot of new teachers were paid for by money that the state approved.

But this most recent session, the increases to education were minor.

I mean, per pupil, just $2.

So how are you funding this?

Where is the rest of this money going to come from?

-Yeah, those are tough decisions, and I'm glad you brought that up, because the funding from the last '23 session is not the same as it is here today.

And we see what's happening in the economy across our state, revenues down in many, many areas.

And so we as a school district and the board of trustees will vote tonight in regard to making that determination.

We only have one pot of money; how are you going to use those funds?

And so investing in our educators is very important.

We're very pleased, again, working with CCEA leadership to make sure that educators can have the steps, columns, their health insurance paid for.

All of those pieces are important.

So that's one piece, and then, obviously, one pie.

You're making a determination to invest in our educators, then, you know, it's coming from somewhere else.

And those are just determinations that we've made.

-And that would be, I guess, the general fund is where the rest of that money would come from?

-That is correct.

-Any concern about where that money could have gone if you're not putting it toward education?

What else might suffer as a result?

-Yeah.

So mentioned earlier about learning conditions and the air conditioning and maintenance.

I mean, we have billions of dollars in buildings that are, you know, almost 300,000 children come to, 44,000 employees.

The maintenance of our buildings is something that we want to make sure that we're keeping up with.

Just like your car, you get your oil changed.

Our buildings have so many components: HVAC, you know, carpeting, classroom walls--you think of all the children running around--the grounds themselves, the playgrounds, and so we need to make sure we balance that we have funds to keep our buildings gorgeous moving forward that people can work and learn in and making sure our staff is compensated.

-And I want to go back to the number of new teachers that you have.

How do parents know that they are quality teachers?

Because if you're bringing this amount of new teachers in, how did you do it?

We talked about money, but there's also a parent who told me that he went to his son's middle school open house recently, and his son's World History teacher said, You know what?

This is my first time teaching this subject.

Last year I was the flag football coach, but I have been reassigned through surplus.

He was a little concerned.

Should he be?

-You know, every single one of our educators comes to work every single day to do what's right for our students.

I don't know that specific example.

-But could that be that that happened?

-I'd be more than happy to follow up on it to make sure that the teacher has the resources that they need.

But we're, you know, with this contract, compensation, all of those pieces, and the board, we are all intent on, focused on making sure we have a highly effective educator in every single classroom.

And to have, you know, just under 300 vacant positions at this moment in time is huge.

Do we want it to be zero?

Yes, we absolutely want it to be zero.

We've been working with our partners, UNLV, UNR, Nevada State College, to help grow our own.

Actually, that's in the contract as well, growing our own educators within our system.

Research shows that if you actually do your student teaching and learning within five to ten miles, you will stay in that area and teach throughout your entire career.

So there are many different moving parts but would love to speak with that parent.

What's interesting about education-- And this is, I'm going into my 36th year of education.

What's so interesting-- -You were a math teacher.

-Yes, thank you, at Von Toble, yes.

Love it.

Thank you.

-That's a big deal.

It makes a big difference.

-I love teaching.

I love education.

I love my job.

There are so many different aspects of how we can get better at getting better.

But, too, education, everyone has an idea of how education should be, because we've all been through it.

But I don't go to my dentist and say, you know, this is how you should fill my tooth, right?

We trust that our dentist has had that educational attainment that's expected to be able to do that body of work.

Or my plumber, I don't tell my plumber how to do his job.

It's interesting in education that so many people believe they know what should happen and when and all.

Because when I was in education, I was always the-- you know, when I was in the classroom...

The fact of the matter is, none of us have been in a classroom like today, whether it be cell phones, social media, you know, all of those components, the pandemic, none of us have experience.

And so we need to lean in and ask our students what they need and then measure and make sure that they're reaching the expectations.

-What about parents?

What do you need from parents?

What do you want them to know?

-Oh, my gosh.

We need parents involved in their child's learning.

We have Infinite Campus which has the grades.

Teachers post the grades in there all the time.

It has attendance.

So please make sure they can download the app and check on their student's progress in school, and we also want them to have a great relationship with their teacher, you know, to ask those questions about, How is my child doing?

What can I do at home to help my child succeed?

Our proficiency rate is not where it needs to be in English language arts, and we're actually even lower in mathematics.

And that's why the 100-day plan addresses mathematics at the middle level.

Early literacy, huge.

And so we need parent involvement to make sure that the parents are engaged and understand if their child is proficient or is not and what areas-- you know, everybody can love their school.

We love our schools.

And where can we help our teachers help grow the children so they can be successful in their careers.

-To the parents of children who may be undocumented and are worried about coming to school because of increased immigration enforcement.

I think CCSD has made its message very clear.

Do you think it's working?

Are parents still in fear of sending their kids to school?

-Yeah.

So I'd answer this in two ways: Number one is our parents and our community, our nation, there are people that are afraid that are US citizens that are afraid of what is transpiring across our entire nation.

So I understand that.

What I want our parents to know is that their children need to come to school.

They need to be in the classroom with their teacher.

They need to be at school with other students and learning.

They need to learn how to read.

They need to do their mathematics.

They need to learn how to collaborate all of those pieces.

The immigration task force, they need to do their business outside of our school buildings.

And we have trained all of our front office staff, all of our principals on if Homeland Security does come into a school building, the protocols are there, and they should only be doing that if there is a warrant.

To date, we have had no activity within our school buildings.

Again, because they can do their business in other places, they do not need to do it on our school campuses.

-How do you make a parent believe that, though, when you have the governor of Nevada saying he will allow the National Guard to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement?

-Doing what we're doing here.

Thank you, again, so much for having me.

It's making sure that our parents do know what we are doing as a school district to make sure when their children come onto campus that they're safe, that they're learning their academics, they're having fun.

And getting the word out, and we've had a lot of partners that have been very helpful in that.

-Knowing what you know about how the process would work, if someone from the Department of Homeland Security showed up, would you send your own child if they were at risk of being possibly deported?

-I would say--I'm glad you asked that question.

Yes, I would be sending my child to school, 100%.

-Last thing, and I don't know if we're going to be able to fit in much of it, but SB460, 200-page education bill.

-I know.

-A huge part of it is about accountability.

But when I read through that, I don't quite understand when this period starts.

There's a three-year time frame, each school has to submit a plan of improvement.

When do they have to do that?

-Well, you do actually know when.

You went through-- -Did that happen this school year or next school year?

-The Nevada Department of Education will be pulling together groups to revamp the accountability system.

I believe they have a meeting this week as well.

And so they're going to be asking statewide what should the accountability system look like.

There is the time frame.

They've put out guidance to all superintendents across our state and the state Public Charter School Authority on the next steps, and it is within the three-year time frame.

What's nice is it's built in also for the 2027 legislative session, so as we're all having conversations about how to be held accountable, that we all have input on what that system looks like and we clearly communicate it.

So I'd love to come back and have that conversation over time as that entire system is built out.

-Do you know when each school has to submit that initial plan?

-The initial components for-- So we're in the 25-26 school year now.

26-27 there'll be some changes, and then we'll continue through 27-28 and 28 and 29.

-Okay.

Because then at the end of that is when the extreme measures could be taken up to the state taking over control of the school in question.

-Correct.

-That's a huge deal.

-State intervention as well, yes.

-Last thing: As part of SB460, there's Section 85 which repeals this reorganization that was done back-- I think in 2017 is when it was implemented, and it decentralized the power within a school district, giving more autonomy to principals.

Now, since that is repealed, I'm guessing that power goes back to you.

-Yeah, so not all of the components of the Nevada Revised Statute have been repealed, but some has.

And what's very important to realize, you know, back in 2015 and 2017, as you noted, people had this idea of, hey, let's move in this direction, and then student achievement, we'll have gains in student achievement.

That's why people make a lot of the laws.

And we were just talking about Senate Bill 460, right, to improve student achievement.

Okay.

It's been almost a decade, and there has been no growth in student achievement or minimal.

And so why would we keep certain laws in place if the intent is not transpiring?

So there has been some movement.

For instance, the final selection of a principal.

The superintendent did not, until this change, actually have full autonomy to choose the principal of a school.

If you're going to hold me accountable as a superintendent with these new bills, I need to be able to select the principal that is right for that school.

So that's one component that within NRS that has been changed.

-And the school organizational teams that were created back in the 2015 session giving parents more input, what happens to those?

-That is still intact, that the school organization teams, the SOTs, are intact.

That's important to me.

We need to have community, parents, support staff, teachers.

They all are on that committee.

We need to have schools coming together and do the work.

I truly believe that that work with input needs to happen at the school building.

And so that's the balancing out of the bill in repealing components of it.

But there are still great components like the school organization team that remains.

-Superintendent Ebert, when would you like to come back on the show?

-Well, so much to talk about.

Yes, whenever, whenever the invitation is there, we'll make sure that I can.

-I really appreciate it.

Thank you for making the time and joining Nevada Week.

-Thank you for having me.

-The Nevada Department of Education will release its annual report card next month with data on student performance for the 2024-2025 school year.

Last year's report card showed that 30.1% of CCSD students in grades 3 through 8 were proficient in mathematics.

That's compared to 32.6% statewide.

The report also showed that 39.3% of CCSD students in grades 3 through 8 were proficient in English language arts.

Statewide, 41.3% were proficient.

From education to entertainment now.

A new show at Mandalay Bay is exploring the legacy of Bob Marley, and its creators call it groundbreaking.

(Scott Givens) A lot of times when people think show, they think: show, sit, don't participate.

We wanted to turn that around and say, no, no, you are a participant.

You're actually a performer and a participant in the show.

And you can opt in.

Our cast will invite you into the conversation, invite you into the performance.

And if you pass, they'll just kind of gently move along and invite the next person.

But if you engage, they'll pull you in.

And it's really wonderful.

-That's Scott Givens, an executive producer of "Bob Marley Hope Road."

He describes the show as a 75-minute experience in which guests travel through different rooms with their cast.

This allows multiple shows to run at the same time with different casts for each group of guests.

He says, Because the messages in Marley's music are timeless, "Hope Road" can inspire fans both old and new.

-We named this show "Hope Road" for two reasons: One, Bob wrote most of his music and recorded at 56 Hope Road in Kingston.

So that's his, that's his home.

And it's still there.

It's a museum these days.

But we just think that word "hope" is a really special word, and it's really what Bob stood for--hope and love and kind of a broad embrace of humanity.

We think that belongs.

-So what would Bob Marley have thought of this show?

Find out how its producers say they ensured it would align with Marley's vision on next week's episode of Nevada Week.

In the meantime, for more information on any of the resources discussed in this show, including information on Superintendent Ebert's 100-day plan for the start of the school year, go to vegaspbs.org/nevadaweek.

And I'll see you next week on Nevada Week.

♪♪