LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Clark County School District is dealing with staffing struggles impacting special education students.
One CCSD teacher spoke to Channel 13, saying certain special education support services are being impacted and worries the problem may only worsen for hundreds of students.
"I have always been drawn to the special needs students," said Amanda, a four-year special education teacher for CCSD. "I kind of always had a passion for them."
After starting the new school year, she says she noticed some changes to the support services for special education students.
"There are all these supports in the district that were being provided to these students, but now the term the district is using is they are being 'dissolved,'" she said.
After starting the new school year, she says she noticed some changes to the support services for special education
Amanda says services such as one for behavior specialists have been impacted due to the ongoing teacher shortage in the district.
"They are no longer taking referrals," she said. "It is down to supervisors only, and they can't provide the services to the students."
She also says there were changes to staffing at Assistive Technology, a service for communication technology students in need. Again, she says staffing was changed to accommodate vacancies.
"The people from LINKS, which I explained is behavior support, have been pulled and put into classrooms because there are not enough teachers," she said.
She worries about the services for special needs students. Right now, there are more than 1,200 jobs open on the CCSD website, 267 of those are in special education.
"They are angry," said John Vellardita, executive director of the Clark County Education Association. "They are frustrated."
13 INVESTIGATES: Clark County School District, teachers union have long history of contract controversy
Protests are making headlines as the district and teachers union negotiate teacher salary contracts. The union is pushing for a 10 percent raise.
With pay issues and no contract, she worries these issues with special education are going unnoticed by many.
"Right now, priority should also be put toward the students that have the highest needs and that need the most, and right now, they all need something," she said.
KTNV contacted the district for more information about changes to special education services. Officials sent back a statement, in part, "We understand the increasing needs of our families while serving the growing number of children qualifying for special education services. As we continue negotiating for a pay scale that reflects the value of our hard-working educators, our ongoing advocacy for licensed staff for all children remains a priority."
