Nevada schools will stay shut the rest of school year

Gov. Steve Sisolak on Tuesday said Nevada schools will remain closed for the rest of the school year to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

The closure was announced at a briefing by the governor in Carson City on the state’s response to the outbreak of the disease, which has claimed 163 lives in the state.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jhone Ebert, who also spoke, said distance learning will continue, with decisions about curriculum and grades made at the local district level.

“Though students will not be returning to school campuses, school is not over for the year,” Ebert said. “This announcement encourages us to double down on our efforts to strengthen our delivery of distance education and promote equitable access to resources for all learners.”

Schools will not be reopened during what the governor described as Phase 1 of loosening the emergency restrictions he put in place to slow the spread of disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Food distribution for students will continue during the extended closure, Sisolak said.

“Due to current safety concerns and the need for ongoing social distancing, I have made the difficult decision to keep school buildings closed,” Sisolak said. “This is in the best interest of our students, educators, staff and communities. I want to thank our district and school employees, students and families for your efforts to continue teaching and learning under difficult circumstances.”

Students and parents can expect communication from their districts about what the remainder of the school year will look like, according to a statement from the Nevada Department of Education.

The Clark County School District’s final day is May 20. The district had already made the decision to postpone graduation ceremonies for the year.

District officials did not respond to a request for comment on the closure decision and the district’s plans for the remainder of the school year submitted late Tuesday.

CCSD has relied on a combination of hard copy packets and online resources to deliver its distance learning plan, but the rollout of the curriculum has been bumpy.

The district has struggled to reach all 325,000 of its students each week as mandated by the state in order to take attendance and provide information about learning opportunities and food distribution sites.

District representatives said teachers contacted around 257,000 students during the first week of distance learning, and 230,000 during the second week, but the district did not begin tracking which communications were answered until after spring break.

The school district has also distributed approximately 55,000 Chromebooks, with another 150,000 awaiting deployment.

Approximately $13 million in grants was spent purchasing 46,000 additional devices.

Contact Aleksandra Appleton at aappleton@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0218. Follow @aleksappleton on Twitter.