Las Vegas, NV– Monday, July 27th, 2020 Clark County School District Superintendent, Dr. Jesus Jara, met with Make the Road Nevada (MRNV) and Youth Power Project (YPP) members, consisting of parents, students, and educators, following a missed meeting the previous week. To open the meeting, Dr. Jara apologized for his tardiness at the previously scheduled meeting. Our members appreciate the effort put forth by Dr. Jara to reschedule and give much needed space to the LatinX community to voice their questions and concerns. We commend Dr. Jara’s willingness to keep communications open as we realize that there is a need for more in depth conversations on crucial topics like the school-to-prison/deportation pipeline.
Our MRNV and YPP members got the chance to ask questions and voice their concerns regarding the plans for distance learning at the beginning of this coming semester. Among those questions were that about the digital divide that low-income families face. Dr. Jara assured our members that households with the most need for distance learning technologies will take priority, yet questions about defining those parameters and multi-student households still arouse.
For YPP, getting Dr. Jara to commit to police free schools was the priority. While Dr. Jara stayed firm in his defense of the role of law enforcement, something many YPP members did not want to hear. We are committed to continue the conversation and put black and brown student’s lives at the forefront. We will keep sharing the stories and voices of affected youths at our Gen Z VoiceZ Facebook live event, Friday, July 31st at 6pm.
“After my interaction with Dr.Jara regarding police in schools, I have come to the conclusion that he is a reactive type of ‘leader’. In the meeting, he addressed the students of CCSD as ‘his kids’ but I’m not sure if any parent would put their child in harm’s way time and time again. Dr. Jara believes he has all the answers but I wonder how he will look a parent in the face after CCSD is ‘next’ [victim of police brutality]. For future meetings, I expect different from the superintendent and I feel none of this will change until CCSD is indeed ‘next’ ” Jordan Mcrae, YPP Member Leader
“Me siento agradecida de que el Superintendente tomó el tiempo para escuchar de nuestra comunidad. Aunque no estoy de acuerdo con todas de sus respuestas, estoy esperanzada de que cumpla con el compromiso de continuar teniendo conversaciones con nosotros mensualmente.” Nellie Tobon, MRNV Member & CCSD Parent
MRNV would like to note that we are not a part of recent recall efforts. Our main goal is and has always been to ensure that our member’s voices are being heard. We have not made any public comment on Jara’s future at CCSD.
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Make the Road Nevada (MRNV) builds the power of Latino and working-class communities to achieve dignity and justice through organizing, policy innovation and transformative education.
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