LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Many families in the Las Vegas valley say they want more options when it comes to education. That's why Gov. Joe Lombardo signedAssembly Bill 400into law last year, codifying the ability of city and county governments to sponsor new public charter schools. Now, two Southern Nevada municipalities are looking to put that new law to use.
The City of North Las Vegas has sent its application to the state department of education to become a public charter school sponsor. The director of community services says the city conducted a survey about six months ago about the state of education and identified many areas of improvement.
"That outlined a lot of where our state of education is right now, some of the teacher deficits, some of the shortcomings in education. So this is an opportunity for us to really identify some of those deficits and fill those deficits with opportunity and options," said Wilson Ramos, director of community services for the City of North Las Vegas.
He said this is their opportunity to take education "by the horns" and open new schools of their own. Although it's all in the very early stages, with state approval, Ramos said North Las Vegas could open its first city-sponsored public charter school as early as 2025.
"This is whole new uncharted waters for us, but we feel fairly empowered with this initiative, knowing that we understand our state of education and what we can do to contribute to make it a little bit better," Ramos said.
Even with the growing interest in the charter school space, Ramos said our existing CCSD schools are still a priority, too.
"I think it's just another alternative option for them. Overall, the schools are putting together their own action plans, which could be beneficial in the long term. We just want to add to that and be a partner in our educational system, our foundation here," Ramos said.
AB400 preserves into law the ability of local governments to sponsor new public charter schools, but that doesn't mean they couldn't do it before, since there was no explicit law against it. The City of Las Vegas openedStrong Start Academy School at the Tony Hsieh Education Center, a free public charter school, in August of 2022. Now, AB400 is empowering more local governments to do the same.
Along with North Las Vegas, Henderson is also expressing interest in this. At the Nov. 7, 2023 city council meeting, leaders passed a resolution to apply to sponsor charter schools. In council agenda documents, city officials wrote "the city is well-positioned to step into this role as well because it can work in close collaboration with the Henderson community in the identification and oversight of charter schools that will best meet the needs of this community and offer choices to students and families."
A spokesperson tells Channel 13 the City of Henderson planned to submit its application to the state the week of May 1, 2024 to become a public charter school sponsor. Officials are hopeful for initial approval by the end of May.
