Support professionals at some CCSD schools to get $7,500 bonuses next school year

Clark County School District administration building at 5100 West Sahara Ave. in Las Vegas on Tuesday, May 23, 2017. Richard Brian Las Vegas Review-Journal @vegasphotograph
Education support experts at 23 Clark County School District elementary schools will receive a $7,500 perk next academic year.

The School Board voted 4-0 on Thursday to approve a contract between the school district and the Education Support Employees Association concerning the perks. Trustees Katie Williams, Lisa Guzman and President Evelyn Garcia Morales weren't in participation.

The recruitment or retention incentives - - which are for workers at schools within The Transformation Network - - will cost the district an estimated $2.6 million.

The district's newly-formed Transformation Network is a group of 23 primary schools that are receiving additional academic support: Booker, Clyde Cox, Dearing, Dickens, Duncan, Ira Earl, Harmon, Herr, Jeffers, Kelly, King, Long, Lunt, Lynch, Perkins, Petersen, Hal Smith, Tartan, Thomas, Thorpe, Wilhelm, Wendell Williams and Wynn.

Support employees at those schools will get the benefit in 2 payments: one on Dec. 13 and one after completion of next academic year. Bonus offers will be prorated for those who start after Jan. 1, 2024.

Staff members should be appointed only to a school within The Transformation Network to receive the reward. School bus motorists, for example, won't be eligible.

Employees should likewise be rated as "meets standards" or "exceeds requirements."

The contract does not consist of an estimate of the number of workers will receive perks, however the 23 schools represent just a portion of the district's more than 360 campuses.

Education support specialists include task categories such as school secretaries, campus security paraprofessionals, displays and assistants.

Education Support Employees Association President Jan Giles informed trustees she's in assistance of the incentives.

The association comprehends the difficulties in recruiting and retaining workers at The Transformation Network schools, and the incentive will ensure the schools are effectively staffed, she said.

The goal is to have all of the education support professional jobs filled at those schools so students will get all of the services they should have and need, Giles stated.

In February, the School Board authorized a contract with the Clark County Association of School Administrators and Professional-Technical Employees to provide rewards to school-based administrators within The Transformation Network next academic year.

There's no agreement between the school district and the Clark County Education Association for similar benefits.

Public remark

Throughout a public remark period, a handful of school employees and moms and dads likewise expressed opposition to what they said is a school district strategy to increase class sizes and have just one assistance staff member in each class in a preschool program for kids who have autism.

Commenters stated the modifications to the KIDS program will produce security issues and insufficient supervision for children who need individually attention.

The district wasn't immediately able to offer information to the Las Vegas Review-Journal Thursday night about changes to the KIDS program.

A number of speakers also raised concerns about antisemitism in the school system after a 17-year-old Jewish trainee who has autism apparently had a swastika scratched into his back in mid-March at Clark High School.

Public commenters on Thursday asked for actions, such as creating a board committee or putting the subject on a future meeting program.

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