Vacancies plague CCSD campuses

Keeping track of which schools are down the highest number of teachers

Just one week before a new school year began in late July, a few Clark County School District campuses had 20 or more classroom teaching vacancies.

The Las Vegas Review-journal filed a public records request July 31 seeking classroom teacher vacancy numbers by campus. The district released the information more than three months later on Nov. 6.

The district had a total of 1,195 vacancies as of July 31, the week before the new school year began on Aug. 7.

Many of the campuses with the most vacancies were in the north

Las Vegas Valley.

Vacancy numbers haven’t shifted substantially in recent months. As of Nov. 8, there were 1,095 classroom vacancies, according to the district.

The district didn’t respond to a question about whether the most recent number takes into account classrooms where a long-term substitute teacher is filling a position.

In September, the district announced a pay increase for substitute teachers who take assignments at 23 high-needs elementary schools, as well as seven middle and high schools with high vacancy rates.

But substitutes haven’t received the extra money for taking assignments at those schools.

Earlier this month, the district said substitute teachers will see the pay increase on their Nov. 29 paycheck for dates worked between Nov. 13 and 21, but the district noted it was still figuring out retroactive pay.

The nation’s fifth-largest district has about 300,000 students and more than 40,000 employees — about 18,000 of whom are licensed workers, a job category that includes teachers, school counselors and nurses.

In mid-september, the district declared an impasse in collective bargaining with the Clark County Education Association after 11 negotiation sessions since late March. The matter now goes to arbitration.

Teachers union members have held protests since July amid contentious bargaining, covering topics such as pay and working conditions.

Here are the 10 campuses with the highest number of vacancies, as of July 31:

■ Cheyenne High School —29

■ Johnston Middle School —28

■ Chaparral High School —20

■ Swainston Middle School —19

■ Cashman Middle School —18

■ Desert Pines High School —16

■ Legacy High School —16

■ Monaco Middle School —15

■ Sedway Middle School —15

■ Von Tobel Middle School —15

Heidi Fang Las Vegas Review-journal @Heidifang A group of parents and community members hold up signs to support better teacher pay during a rally in front of CCSD’S headquarters in September.