CCSD postpones ‘Java with Jara’ events after union protests

The Clark County School District is postponing its “Java with Jara” community events until negotiations with the teachers union conclude.

The district announced the change in a news release Monday, saying events with Superintendent Jesus Jara will be rescheduled “once labor contracts are in place with all employee bargaining units.”

It comes after Clark County Education Association members held protests last week. Union officials told the Las Vegas Review-Journal last week that members were planning to protest at every Java with Jara event.

“To keep the Java with Jara discussions focused on student success and spare the community further interruptions, the Clark County School District is postponing these events until negotiations conclude,” the district said. “Our families and community members desiring to dialogue on education issues deserve the Superintendent’s uninterrupted attention. The goal of these community conversations is to provide space for discussing education matters with the Superintendent rather than for bad-faith attempts by a bargaining unit to negotiate publicly with the school district.”

Collective bargaining is underway between the district and its five employee unions. Negotiations have been tense with the Clark County Education Association, which represents licensed employees.

“Educators are angrier than ever and want the community to know what is really going on, but Jara can’t have that happen so, once again, he cancels,” the teachers union said Monday in a statement to the Review-Journal. “He is running from accountability, as he has consistently done throughout his tenure as Superintendent. He simply can’t face the music.”

About 200 union members protested last week outside a coffee shop in northwest Las Vegas, where the first Java with Jara event was held. The next day, members gathered near the site of another planned event — which the district canceled shortly before it was scheduled to begin — in Henderson’s Inspirada community.

The district had three Java with Jara events scheduled this week: Tuesday in Moapa, Wednesday at a Panera Bread in North Las Vegas and Thursday at a Starbucks in southwest Las Vegas.

The district’s website originally listed more than a dozen events — which are limited to 20 attendees who must sign up in advance — running through late August.

Two additional negotiation sessions between the district and teachers union are scheduled for Thursday and Friday, the district said.

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