Latest news with #CCSD
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
CCSD police seize 35 guns during recent school year
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – Clark County School District police seized almost three dozen firearms during this past school year, finding them in classrooms, backpacks, and even students' homes. Officers confiscated a total of 35 guns from Aug. 2024 to May 2025, according to the Clark County School District Police Department. That is a decrease compared to the previous school year, where 53 were found. Clark County School District rolls out new weapons detection system Most of the firearms officers located in the 2024-2025 year were in high schools. However, in a few instances, middle schoolers were caught with firearms. Police went to JD Smith Middle School located in North Las Vegas on Mar. 24 after an alarm was activated. According to an arrest report, administrators found a gun on a student after searching him based on a suspicion. He was already on probation. CCSDPD said officers only found one round in the magazine; four other rounds were reported missing. On Mar. 7, officers were dispatched to Cimarron High School. Administrators had located a pink gun that was hidden in a student's backpack. According to police, the gun had one round in the chamber and three in the magazine. The student told police he was 'door checking vehicles in the nearby apartments last week and he came across an unlocked vehicle in which he found and searched a purse that was inside the vehicle. He located and took the gun and decided to bring it to school today,' according to an arrest report. 8 News Now also obtained a video from CCSD showing a teenager at Spring Valley High School running around campus late last year. The student had a gun with several rounds in his backpack, and the gun did not have a serial number, according to an arrest report. School police were tipped off on March 27 to a student at Legacy High School posting photos on Instagram holding a gun and a liquor bottle. Police said when officers searched him, he didn't have the gun. He told officers it was his mother's gun that she kept in a safe. He '…then spontaneously uttered that it was easy to break the lock of the box…stated that he did it with a flathead screwdriver and that all he needed to do was push down on the lock and it popped and broke open,' according to an arrest report. The district's records showed Legacy High School was connected to eight gun confiscations in the 2024-2025 school year. Several of the students arrested at Legacy had gang affiliations. Police seize guns from high school students in North Las Vegas with alleged gang ties Sixteen students were arrested in the 2024-2025 school year for possessing guns, according to CCSD records. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Nevada lawmakers push through new education reform bill
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Nevada lawmakers are trying to push through a bill that aims to reform public education in the state. Monday was the final day for bills to pass in the 2025 Nevada legislative session. Republicans and Democrats combined two separate education bills, Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, D-Clark County, and Republican Governor Joe Lombardo's bills which were absorbed into one piece of legislation. Nevada Democrats unveil major education bill targeting CCSD, charter schools The bill includes open enrollment; expanding pre-kindergarten education; making the Clark County School District's four non-voting appointed trustees into voting members; and allowing the state to take over underperforming schools. At a hearing in the Assembly Education Committee on Monday, Interim Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Steve Canavero said the punitive parts of a new system to hold schools accountable would take effect in the 2029 school year. 'Does [the Nevada Department of Education] have the ability, the funding, the staff, and the resources to fully take over these schools on an indefinite basis?' Assem. Selena La Rue Hatch, D-Washoe County, said. 'This is the start of a build out [for the] long term. Our math would say somewhere around 2029/2030 would be when we would identify persistently underperforming schools,' Dr. Canavero responded. The new bill would create the Public Education Oversight Board, which would support and intervene when schools, including charters, slide academically. 'The permissive interventions would be direct state takeover or working to replace key personnel at the school site,' Canavero said, in describing what the board could do. According to the Nevada Department of Education, half of all public schools are one or two-star schools and half of third graders are also not at the level they need to be. Yet not all lawmakers were sold on the idea of a new board, including Democratic Assem. Erica Mosca. 'I definitely have some concerns, and I've heard a lot of people have concerns around a small group having a lot of decision making in the state. Whether it's taking over a school, removing a superintendent, taking over a district,' Mosca, D-Clark County, said. She has previously worked at charter schools. Lombardo said he is looking to remove excuses in schools when it comes to chronic underperformance. 'Remove that excuse': Gov. Lombardo's education bill aims at performance, accountability 'It's clear that there was an intention for there to be some decision making around accountability for our school districts,' Canavero said. Tucked in the education reform was the amendment to make the non-voting, appointed CCSD trustees into voting members. That would not kick in until July of 2027. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge sides with ACLU in lawsuit against CCSD over graduation stole ban
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The Clark County School District will issue updated guidance to graduating seniors and school administrators Monday after a federal judge ruled in favor of student expression in a case brought by the ACLU of Nevada. During an emergency court hearing Sunday, U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware found that two stoles, one featuring the phrase 'Black Girl Magic' on kente cloth and another representing the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nevada's Emerging Leaders Program, were lawfully protected under the First Amendment. Both stoles had previously been denied by a school administrator. The decision prompted an agreement between the district and the ACLU requiring CCSD to notify all graduates and school leaders by 3 p.m. with clear guidance on what is permitted at graduation ceremonies. Graduates will be allowed to wear up to five stoles and may decorate their caps and gowns with flat adornments. Decorations must not be lewd, obscene, vulgar, profane, or promote violence, illegal drug use, harassment, bullying, or discrimination. If any decoration or item is found to be substantially disruptive or materially interfering with the ceremony, the graduate may be asked to remove it to participate. While certain items may still be restricted, any prohibition must be consistent with the First Amendment and state law. Pre-approval of stoles and flat cap decorations will not be required, effectively lifting previous deadlines. This new policy will apply to all high schools within the CCSD. 'It was important for us to bring this case because if we didn't, our client would have been prohibited from wearing her stole that reads 'Black Girl Magic' and those graduates in our Emerging Leaders Youth Leadership Program would have have met the same fate depending on the school they attend. It was also important for us to ensure CCSD complies with the law and school faculty and administrators do not get to be the arbiters of the First Amendment based on their own viewpoints. Consistency matters across CCSD. The First Amendment is for everyone. ACLU of Nevada will always fight to make sure that's a reality, and we are grateful to the Judge in this matter for hearing this case when he did in an emergency fashion. You only graduate high school once and this moment is a time for graduates to celebrate their cultures, not experience censorship. We are grateful to spend our Memorial Day weekend defending the First Amendment.' ACLU of Nevada Executive Director Athar Haseebullah The ACLU is urging all administrators who receive the updated guidance to ensure their staff comply, warning that any violations could lead to further litigation, including potential claims for damages. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Calgary Herald
21-05-2025
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Construction to be fast-tracked for west Calgary Catholic high school project
A long-awaited Catholic high school in west Calgary is one step closer to being built. Article content Article content Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides announced the third funding stream for the province's School Construction Accelerator Program (SCAP) in Aspen Woods on Wednesday, including two projects that will benefit the Calgary Catholic School District. Article content The projects receiving funding through the latest round of SCAP include construction of a new Catholic high school in west Calgary, and design-related work for the modernization and expansion of Bishop McNally High School in Falconridge. Article content Article content 'There has been a lot of commentary from parents in west Calgary about the need for a new high school,' Nicolaides told Postmedia ahead of his announcement. 'This project has now moved through the design phase and is ready to begin construction, so we'll be able to provide construction funding to the school division so the project can start to move ahead right away.' Article content Article content Parent advocates have long called on the provincial government to fund a Catholic high school in west Calgary. Currently, Catholic high school students in the southwest attend St. Mary's High School in the Beltline, which can involve nearly an hour's commute each way. Article content 'It's a long commute time, and I do know for a lot of families in the neighbourhood, they'd obviously prefer to have their kids attend school closer to home,' Nicolaides said. 'A lot of them switch and enrol into the public system, (with) Ernest Manning as their designated high school, which cascades and creates other capacity issues.' Article content Article content The new grades 10-12 school will be built at 1579 93rd Street S.W., on the western edge of the city limits, and is expected to open in 2028, states the CCSD's website, which doesn't specify when construction will begin. Article content Article content On the opposite corner of the city, the Bishop McNally modernization project will expand the campus to handle a capacity of 1,880 students, according to the province's major projects portal. Article content 'It is a top project for the school division and we're now able to move it to the design phase, which is a really important stage,' Nicolaides said. 'The school division can really start mapping out what that addition is going to look like and how the space is going to be modernized.' Article content Shannon Cook, chair of the CCSD's board of trustees, said the division is grateful to see two of its highest-priority high-school projects receive funding through SCAP. Article content 'With our student population growing rapidly and our high schools already over capacity, these new builds and modernizations/additions are critical to ensuring our students have access to quality, Catholic education close to home,' she said in a statement. Article content Article content SCAP is an $8.6-billion program that aims to address Alberta's growing student enrolment pressures in the K-to-12 education system, brought on by the province's recent surge in population. Article content As evidence of a worsening space crunch, more than one-third of public schools in Calgary are now operating at or above a 100 per cent utilization rate. Article content 'This growth in population has been quite quick and quite sudden over the past couple years, and it's put significant pressure on our schools,' Nicolaides said. 'That's why we're stepping up to the plate and announcing our plan to invest $8.6 billion to build and renovate more than 100 schools to help address the space needs of our school divisions. There's no question there's a lot of demand and pressure out there.' Article content Article content For SCAP's next funding stream, 11 previously announced school projects will receive either design or construction funding. Article content In addition to the two Calgary projects, Nicolaides said the province will allocate money for school projects in Coalhurst, Donnelly, Falher, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie County, Lac La Biche, Red Deer, Strathmore and Wetaskiwin. The Strathmore project includes design funding for a replacement of Westmount School. Article content When complete, the projects will create more than 8,000 new and updated student spaces. Article content 'Most of the projects we're moving forward are outside of Calgary and Edmonton this round,' Nicolaides said. 'That helps other communities around the province recognize and understand that we're trying to achieve both goals; building space in our fast-growing communities while also ensuring we have the highest quality infrastructure as possible in some of our smaller communities.' Article content
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
ACLU sues Nevada school district over graduation regalia policy
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Although Nevada has a law that allows students to wear certain regalia on their caps and gowns at school graduation ceremonies, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit on behalf of a student, stating that the Las Vegas-area Clark County School District (CCSD) isn't following the law. 'For the fourth year in a row, we are again hearing stories about CCSD schools enforcing unconstitutional restrictions on students' decorating their caps and gowns at their high school graduation,' the ACLU said in a news release. 'Our clients and their families deserve the right to express themselves and celebrate their graduation,' the union added. The law states that students are 'entitled to wear traditional tribal regalia or recognized objects of religious or cultural significance as an adornment at a school graduation ceremony.' However, school boards and school officials can ban a specific item if it's 'likely to cause a substantial disruption of, or material interference with, [a graduation] ceremony.' The lawsuit, filed on Thursday, said the graduating student wanted to wear the following items: A stole with the written message 'Black Girl Magic' to represent herself A black and red stole to represent her time with the ACLU of Nevada's Emerging Leaders program A pin signifying her membership in the National Honor Society The stoles and cords provided by her school signify her achievements at a local career and technical academy A cap decorated with small paper flowers, gems and crystals The ACLU gave all the students in its Nevada Emerging Leaders program a graduation stole and pin to wear at graduation, and states in the suit that not being able to wear these violates the Nevada law and the First Amendment. The suit contends that CCSD has not provided proper guidance to schools, causing individual schools to create their own guidelines. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
