Schools

It is wonderful to be back in school, to again see the smiling faces of young people walking throughout the building, going from class to class with excitement and anticipation, gently pushing at their friends to move along, so no one ends up being late to class.

The featured speaker at Monday's Democratic tele-luncheon will be Eric Biggart, Chair of LDS Democrats of America. The group, which is not affiliated the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, has as its slogan, "Same faith. Same values. Different perspective." Their mission, as laid out on their Facebook page, is to “promote the full participation of Latter-day Saints in the Democratic Party. We do this by providing educational and social resources to progressive, moderate, and conservative Democrats who are also LDS, and others who are interested in participating in a ‘no shouting’ environment.”

First-day jitters are not just for students. The Carson City School District was pleased to announce the appointment of seven new principals and district administrators (alphabetically by school) for the 2020-2021 school year at its school board meeting Tuesday evening.

With today's start of the Fall 2020 school year, Carson City School District officials note schools will run differently this time around due to the pandemic. Below is a list of key information students, parents and families will want to be familiar with as students return to school on this Monday, Aug. 24.

He is a senior at Carson High School, and his last year is, to say the least, unconventional. Adults have had their say, so how about a chat with this popular young man as he sports a 1980s hairstyle called a mullet in which the hair is short on the sides and long at the front and back.

Beginning Monday, Aug. 24, meals (breakfast and lunch together) for students in the Carson City School District will be available at all school sites for pick up from 9-11 a.m. Students may go to any school to get meals regardless of the school they attend.

Special Olympics Nevada (SONV) is extending the time of its first-ever “Flame of Hope” virtual run and fundraiser.

From now until September 30, SONV is asking the community to support its athletes and programs by registering to walk, run, bike, or swim a 10k, 5k, or the distance of a JR. run.

A COVID-19 mitigation task force on Thursday denied requests from the state’s two urban counties to reopen bars, expressing doubt about whether doing so would stem the tide of outbreaks tied to house parties and concern about a lack of buy-in from all local jurisdictions in Southern Nevada.

Nevada Humanities is pleased to announce the opening of the Nevada Humanities Major Project Grants that are part of their FY2021 Nevada Humanities Project Grants to Support Public Humanities Projects. These Major Project Grants have a public humanities project focus and will support larger-scale public humanities projects statewide that range from one month to one year to implement.

With the start of the Fall 2020 school year, hindered by a pandemic, Carson City School District officials said things will look a bit different. Below is a list of key information students, parents and families will want to be familiar with as students return to school Monday, Aug. 24.

In July, the Carson City School District decided that a hybrid plan for Carson City students was the safest route to keep down the number of COVID-19 cases, allowing children to attend only two days a week and distance learn three days a week.

The Carson City School District has prepared and shared a Back-to-School Launch Video with all its teachers and employees, which details out the various nuances and changes associated in going back to school in Carson City this year.

Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey Counties meets on the second Thursday of each month. The Coalition’s next public meeting is Thursday, August 13 via Zoom at 9 a.m.

Gov. Steve Sisolak signed a bill on Tuesday that shields most Nevada businesses from “frivolous lawsuits” related to COVID-19 — a measure backed by some of the state’s most influential political voices including the tourism and gaming industry and the Culinary Union, but opposed by progressive groups and the entities that were left out.

Carson City School Superintendent Richard Stokes will be the guest speaker at this week’s Rotary Club of Carson City’s virtual meeting. The public is invited to attend the online meeting which takes place Tuesday at noon.

Lawmakers ended the second special session of the summer shortly after midnight on Wednesday after passing a heavily lobbied bill that shields many businesses from COVID-19-related lawsuits but ultimately exempted school districts, hospitals and other health care facilities from receiving the additional protections.

For the second year in a row, The Salvation Army is holding school supply drives at more than 4,500 Walmart locations across the country. In the Carson City, Douglas County and Reno areas, there are 8 Walmart stores participating this Friday through Sunday. Due to COVID-19, the need is greater than ever before. It also means our campaign looks a little different this year.

Nevada lawmakers who say they’ve been inundated with pleas for help from constituents sorted through a bill Sunday night that they acknowledge isn’t a silver bullet for the state’s unemployment backlog, but could ease some of the system’s bottlenecks.

Those who have been traveling along the downtown section of Carson Street since July 22 will have noticed the many young faces on the banners now gracing our light poles.

Gov. Steve Sisolak has formally called on legislators to convene in Carson City for a second special session of the summer focused on a wide range of policy issues.

The governor issued an official proclamation on Thursday evening calling for the special session to begin Friday, with language requesting the session wrap up by midnight on Friday, Aug. 7.

School districts in the Northern Nevada area are putting plans in place for students to safely return to the 2020-21 school year.

A new directive by the state of Nevada requires school districts to submit three reopening plans for the upcoming school year. The three plans include one for complete in-person instruction, one for hybrid instruction and one for all-distance learning.

The Carson City School Board voted Tuesday in favor of the reopening plan proposed by the school district with a 4-3 vote, which includes pushing the starting date to Aug 24, with a few alterations from the original plan.

Tonight beginning at 6 p.m., the Carson City School Board will be voting on the re-opening plans for all schools in the Carson City School District, which is slated to open on a proposed hybrid schedule. Families are also given the option of 100 percent distance learning, but there is no option at this time for 100 percent in school learning, except for certain special education students.

To watch the meeting live beginning at 6 p.m., you can tune in on Carson.org by following this link, which should be activated just before 6 p.m.: https://www.carson.org/transparency/meeting-agendas-minutes-and-recordings

With ongoing uncertainty about the school year, families are prioritizing more technology in this year's back-to-school budgets to accommodate online and distance learning.

Gov. Steve Sisolak is rolling back orders to close bars in three rural counties but keeping closure orders in place in Las Vegas and Reno, while signaling a new emphasis on interventions that are narrowly tailored to noncompliant businesses and hotspot regions rather than entire industries.

The Carson City School Board will be voting on the final plan for the upcoming 2020-2021 school year and the effect COVID-19 has had on it at the board meeting this Tuesday, July 28, at 6 p.m.

The meeting, which will take place in the Sierra Room of the Community Center located at 851 E. William Street, will decide on how the reopening of the new school year will go in Carson City Schools.

In the midst of COVID-19, several local non-profits, churches, homeless shelters and social services are helping those in need. Community food resources in the Carson City, Minden, Silver Springs, Yerington, Gardnerville and Dayton areas have put together plans and options during these unprecedented times.

Multiple groups were in front of the legislature Saturday, with the regular every-Saturday Black Lives Matter protest along with the counter “All lives matter” protesters, but this week a new group showed up to have their voices heard in the form of education advocates.

Fall high school sports are now temporarily postponed in Carson City, Lyon, Douglas and Storey counties as well as the rest of Nevada. State playoffs are not expected to take place this year, as well. The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association announced Thursday that all fall sports in Nevada will be played in March of 2021 to lower the spread of COVID-19.

I am a desperate parent trying to find help. I’m a scared parent wanting to start an open & constructive conversation about our schools in the fall. My public comments have been silenced or not acknowledged. I’m not alone, I’m in the majority & we should have the choice to choose what’s right for our kids.

I think GOV SISOLAK should at least, give us, NEVADA parents & teachers, the CHOICE on whether we want our kids to return or not return to school full time. It should be OUR choice and decision.