Aspiring CCSD teachers could get help, thanks to coronavirus funds

The Clark County School District will use federal coronavirus relief money to help pay for college for some aspiring teachers.

The School Board voted Thursday to approve an agreement with Nevada State College as part of its consent agenda, and there was no discussion. Board President Irene Cepeda abstained from voting because she is employed by the college.

According to meeting materials posted online, the agreement is meant “to strengthen the educator pipeline to address the critical shortage of educators in CCSD.”

Dennis Potthoff, dean of Nevada State College’s School of Education, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that it’s an effort to work collaboratively to prepare school district teachers.

“I think it’s a wonderful, necessary action,” he said. “Our schools will be much better if we can find enough teachers.”

The School Tuition Assistance Project is estimated to run through the end of September 2023.

According to online meeting materials, the school district will pay tuition and fees for “all courses necessary for degree completion” up to $3 million for teaching students in the project who are pursuing a bachelor’s degree in education.

Also, “Nevada State College will provide one year of mentorship to a select number of graduates in efforts to support teacher retention upon graduation and entrance into District,” according to the materials.

More specific logistical details have not been determined.

The state has a career and technical education track option for high schools called “teaching and training,” which began during the 2017-18 school year.

The Clark County School District offers the program at about 30 high schools, and more than 4,000 students were taking those classes last school year.

When the district added the program, “this resonated with us,” Potthoff said, because it has a Teacher Academy Pipeline Project for high schoolers who are interested in teaching.

That includes dual credit classes, where students earn high school and college credits simultaneously, allowing them to get a jump-start on college and save money.

Mike Barton, the school district’s chief college, career, equity and school choice officer, said Wednesday the project will look to assist students who were at one point in the dual enrollment teaching program.

“Nevada State has a broad footprint in our schools for ‘teaching and training,’” he said.

Through the project, about 274 students will have the rest of their college expenses paid for — the remaining credits they would need to earn a bachelor’s degree and become fully certified teachers, Barton said.

He said the agreement the School Board approved is for the first year, but the district has plans for another year of the project with an additional $3 million in funding.

Barton said there will be a lot of recruiting and conversation with students in the project, but probably not a formal requirement that program graduates must work for the district.

Addressing the teacher shortage

Staffing shortages in the district have led to some teachers selling their preparation periods to cover vacancies, more classes taught by substitutes and in some cases, fewer class offerings.

The school district has many amazing teachers, Potthoff said, but not enough of them.

“Nevada absolutely has to find a way to locally grow more of its teachers,” he said.

And recruiting teachers from other states is a challenge.

“That has gotten harder and harder to pull off because all 50 states have teacher shortages,” Potthoff said.

As of Tuesday, the district had 1,093 licensed job positions — a category that includes roles such as teachers, school counselors and nurses — posted on its hiring website.

It also had 591 openings posted for support staff, which includes positions such as teacher assistants, campus security monitors, custodians and office workers.

Current employees have raised concerns at School Board meetings for many months about working conditions, including large class sizes, a heavy workload and school violence.

The school district already has taken some steps to address the shortage. They include an increase in starting teacher pay, a retention bonus this school year for full-time regular employees, a teacher relocation bonus and partnerships with UNLV for accelerated offerings to help people — including current school support staff and those who have a bachelor’s degree outside of education — become a licensed teacher.

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton on Twitter.