Joshua Peguero and Julia Romero
17 minutes ago
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – The Nevada State Board of Education said it will gather more input from the community before making a decision to delay high school start times.
The state board voted unanimously Wednesday to consider the survey questions at its next meeting, which will be sent to local stakeholders.
Nevada State Board of Education Chairwoman Felicia Ortiz and Commissioner Tim Hughes said the commission would then consider the responses to determine whether there is enough momentum to propose a bill. . The bill will then be sent to Nevada lawmakers.
Dating back to last year, school boards have held several meetings to push school start times back an hour across the state.
Currently, high school classes in the Clark County School District begin around 7 a.m., but the school board hopes to start classes at 8 a.m. at the earliest.
“If the greatest teacher on the planet is teaching at 7 a.m. and the kids are only half asleep, are they really learning?” Ortiz said, asking members to question the intent of the rule. In response, he said:
Professor Ortiz said at previous conferences that some studies show that students who get extra sleep have improved mental health and academic performance.
But the majority of Nevada's school systems oppose the move, arguing that the school board is exceeding its authority.
“School start times are the prerogative of local school districts and, as you know, our school districts vary widely, so each school district should be able to decide. This is not the prerogative of the state board,” said Nevada School of Education. said Mary Pierczynski of the Head Association.
Non-voting member Tate Els mentioned some concerns he has about the proposal.
“What are our intentions? What are we going to do with it? Because we're just worried that there will be more unintended consequences in the process of trying to do that,” Els said.
CCSD previously said the start time change could impact school bus schedules. The school district has even threatened to sue if the board moves forward.
