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Confusing memo aside, Clark County teachers will get day off

Relax, Clark County School District teachers. You will not need to report to school on Friday — a scheduled day off for students and staff — despite a confusing memo that the district sent to staff this week.

Superintendent Jesus Jara originally suggested Friday as a make-up day for the Feb. 22 snow day, but the School Board voted last week to instead make up the missed day of study on April 22.

The memo that the human resources division sent out on Wednesday was meant to clarify a technicality. Of the 180 days of instruction the district must offer each year, four are professional development days for staff.

But the district and teachers union switched to a newer “site-based collaboration” model, in which staff regularly put in an extra hour after school that adds up to a total of four days’ worth of professional development.

As a result, the district submits four “banked days” of professional development to the state that count toward the requirement — even though those days were earned over time through after-school site-based collaboration, a district spokeswoman said.

But the wording in the memo led many teachers to conclude that Friday’s day off had been canceled.

“The district’s fourth professional development day, as aligned with ‘banked’ time defined by site-based collaboration time in the 2018-2021 negotiated agreement … shall now be March 22, 2019 instead of April 22, 2019,” the memo stated.

April 22 was originally one of the days that would be recorded with the state as a professional development day — but since the School Board is now making that a regular school day, the district will instead count March 22 as a “banked day.”

Contact Amelia Pak-Harvey at apak-harvey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4630. Follow @AmeliaPakHarvey on Twitter.

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