Parents critical of Clark County schools’ family engagement changes

Dozens of radical astatine Thursday’s Clark County School Board gathering offered enactment for the district’s household engagement employees and expressed interest astir section changes.

The Clark County School District is restructuring its assemblage engagement bureau to “revitalize efforts to summation assemblage and household outreach priorities” successful enactment with a five-year strategical plan, according to an Oct. 6 quality release.

The bureau volition see respective departments, including household engagement, formerly known arsenic Family and Community Engagement Services, oregon FACES.

The revamped household engagement section volition “empower families by providing accrued integer resources and engaging families done accrued location calls and visits,” the territory said.

But nationalist commenters Thursday said they’re disquieted astir employees who whitethorn beryllium displaced and for families who trust connected the services.

FACES has been successful Title I schools to assistance students and families with the highest needs, said Jan Giles, president of the Education Support Employees Association union.

She said 29 employees received notices saying their positions were being eliminated and that they were being surplused to different jobs. Those employees were the backbone of the programme and were near successful the acheronian astir plans for the department, she added.

“Keep this palmy programme intact,” Giles said.

Some workers passim the schoolhouse territory are reallocated to antithetic sites each autumn arsenic a effect of enrollment numbers.

It’s publically chartless however galore employees crossed the schoolhouse territory are being affected by the surplus process this fall. The territory hasn’t responded to Review-Journal requests for accusation since mid-September.

Board President Linda Cavazos said accusation was posted Thursday day connected the schoolhouse district’s website astir FACES changes. She besides said a territory head would beryllium disposable successful a league country during the committee gathering to sermon the changes and reply questions.

Trustee Evelyn Garcia Morales said she’s progressively acrophobic determination person been assumptions and judgments made astir programs, including FACES, without afloat context. Some accusation circulating is false, she noted.

She said she’s grateful for the documents the schoolhouse territory released Thursday, noting breathtaking changes to the household engagement section volition let the territory to service much students and families.

Trustee Danielle Ford said she was a small disappointed not to person a heads-up astir the changes arsenic a committee member, truthful she tin lone ideate what it would beryllium similar for those successful the program.

In a Thursday update posted connected the schoolhouse district’s website earlier the meeting, the territory said it “acknowledges the hard enactment of the galore employees who person collaborated connected some of the FACES and Partnership programs.”

“We are moving to spot arsenic galore of these valued employees arsenic imaginable into the caller portion operation and volition enactment the remainder done our autumn surplus process,” according to the statement.

A papers released by the territory says speech astir the FACES modulation was underway since September with bargaining units and that the territory is ensuring “as fewer employees arsenic imaginable are affected.”

The territory said rumors that 29 enactment nonrecreational jobs volition beryllium eliminated are mendacious and that it “will modulation arsenic galore employees arsenic imaginable to a caller presumption wrong the District.”

For those who can’t beryllium transitioned, they’ll enactment successful the surplus process, the territory said.

Addressing rumors astir hiring further administrators, the territory said determination volition inactive lone beryllium 1 Director II presumption nether the caller organizational structure.

The territory besides said it’s reviewing information to find which household engagement centers volition stay open, but noted it volition proceed operating astatine slightest 2 successful each of the district’s 3 regions.

The erstwhile exemplary and backing operation didn’t let FACES to service each schoolhouse territory campuses, the territory said. Last schoolhouse year, less than one-third of schools — 115 of 368 — received enactment from FACES.

The caller section volition see unit successful each of the schoolhouse district’s 3 regions, the territory said.

Two parents spoke successful Spanish during a nationalist remark play Thursday and a pistillate translated for them. They said they don’t privation to spot FACES services disappear, noting families won’t different person the resources to assistance with their child’s development.

They besides talked astir however the programme helped their families during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Teacher Machelle Rasmussen said it’s unacceptable to unopen down a captious programme similar FACES without connection to families oregon staff.

She said she was referring families to English classes and parents were calling frustrated with not being capable to person those services. It doesn’t marque consciousness to halt services portion the programme is restructured, she added.

Using the surplus process is not an acceptable enactment methodology and should beryllium avoided astatine each costs, Rasmussen said, noting it treats worker lives callously.

Shaun Navarro with Las Vegas Democratic Socialists of America said he’s successful enactment of the FACES program, and making cuts would disproportionately impact moving people and migrant families.

Navarro said galore of those parents ne'er stopped moving during pandemic and continued to support the metropolis running, and merit much entree to services.

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener astatine jgreener@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton connected Twitter.