22 Jul Superintendent Jara Truant in Meeting with Latinx Parents, Students and Educators

For Immediate Release: 

July 21, 2020

Superintendent Jara Truant in Meeting with Latinx Parents, Students and Educators

Las Vegas, NV– Monday, July 20th, Make the Road Nevada (MRNV) members, consisting of parents, students, and educators, were set to meet with Superintendent Dr. Jesus Jara to discuss the reopening of schools within Clark County amidst the pandemic. When the Superintendent arrived on the hour-long zoom  27 minutes late, MRNV members made the decision to reschedule the meeting. MRNV agreed to take the meeting with Dr. Jara when he requested on Thursday afternoon that he have the chance to hear from members prior to tomorrow’s board meeting. Dr. Jara wasted our members’ time. As the Superintendent of the 5th largest school district in the country, our community demands more respect than this.

The topic of this meeting regarded not only the health and safety of students and staff but of their families as well. Parents were ready to ask questions about the safety of their children, something that each and every one of them has had in their mind since the initial closing of the schools. While the Clark County School Board of Trustees argue over the past few weeks, there hasn’t been a space for monolingual Spanish speakers to voice their concerns about the reopening plans. The lack of space that has been held for Latinx families in a 47% Latinx school district is absurd and when the rare opportunity arrives it comes with no consideration for the community’s time. This is unacceptable and must change, we need more opportunities for our community’s voices to be heard. 

“Our members were extremely excited to have the opportunity to speak with Dr. Jara, Our members worked diligently over the weekend on their questions and statements. This was the first time many of our young leaders were supposed to have the opportunity to speak to a person in power, someone who has direct influence over their futures. Instead, they were met with disrespect. Our members’ time is valuable and they deserved better.” Leo Murrieta, MRNV Executive Director 

We hope Dr. Jara prioritizes our next meeting and that CCSD as a whole creates more opportunities for the Latinx community to use their voice. 

“It’s really embarrassing how I as a senior in high school has more of an understanding of how precious people’s time is and how valuable one’s word is. If I even start a meeting late with the J4NG  program that I’m in, I’m gonna get in trouble for starting that meeting late and there’s gonna be consequences to follow after that. I’ve been told that one’s word is all that they have. It’s really important to stress how I (personally) think it’s really selfish and inconsiderate that our time wasn’t valued.” Evelyn Hampton, YPP member & CCSD Student

“I was waiting for the opportunity to ask a question around the safety of my child and the community as the schools reopen but now I just feel disrespected. Now I can’t help but wonder if Superintendent Jara even cares if he is this late.” Areli Sanchez Morales, CCSD Parent & MRNV Member 

“I was impressed when I learned that Dr. Jara had reached out and asked for this meeting. Needless to say, I was disappointed when 15 minutes after the meeting began, he replied to a text one of the staff sent, stating that he would be tardy. A total of 27 minutes late to the meeting that he asked for was a disappointment. I’m left thinking, would he have texted us at all if we hadn’t texted first? I felt as though he didn’t value our time.” Mario Wolthers, CCSD Educator & MRNV Member