An initiative to turn some of the lowest-performing schools in Nevada into charters has suffered blowback since before it became law in 2015, but state officials want to salvage the concept and even expand upon it in the last week of the legislative session.

The Senate Education Committee is meeting Tuesday afternoon to hear SB430, which originally sought to abolish the Achievement School District that aims to turn around some of the state’s persistently low-achieving schools. The Nevada Department of Education has been working to amend the bill so the special “district” offers interventions that keep a struggling school traditionally public and avoid from the politically dicey conversion to a charter.

“I was also challenged to come up with an equivalent,” said state Superintendent Steve Canavero. “So rather than just rely on charters for the Achievement School District, is there a way for us to arrive at the outcomes for kids that we know that they’re capable of and that they deserve in something that’s not a charter framework?”

Under existing law, up to six of the lowest-performing schools in the state are brought under the purview of the state-run Achievement School District each year and matched with a charter management organization that’s given authority to do what’s necessary to reverse the school’s trajectory. Some of the schools that face conversion have strongly resisted the move, objecting to the idea that there’s a “forced takeover” and fighting the concept at earlier hearings in the Legislature.

The department is now proposing a concept called “A+ Schools,” which aims for major changes at struggling schools but stops short of turning them into charter schools. It would involve giving principals and school organizations teams control over hiring and firing and 100 percent of their funding — including state and federal money — then give them a six-year “contract” similar to ones offered to a charter management organization and hold them accountable to reaching pre-set performance goals.

A+ schools could even petition the state board of education to have state laws and regulations waived if they think some of that is standing in the way of their progress. The principal designated to lead the school would be chosen through a third-party, objective process.

“It’s really about getting the right principal to lead this effort,” Canavero said. “Some of them are great at this work.”

The proposed changes are part of a push in Nevada schools toward more autonomy — something that researchers have said makes schools more efficient and responsive to the needs of their community. The Clark County School District reorganization, in which control over 85 percent of a school’s funding is shifted from a central office to a leadership team at the individual site, is one example of that.

A step toward even greater autonomy is Autonomous Schools, authorized under Lt. Gov. Mark Hutchison’s bill SB92 from the 2015 session. The program grants administrators who have been designated highly effective more flexibility to accomplish school improvement goals and control over all state funds from the Distributive School Account. In April, principal John Haynal was given control of three Clark County schools under the auspices of the program.

A+ Schools would have autonomy that’s even greater than those in Autonomous Schools. The model would be offered in addition to the option of a charter conversion; Canavero said he foresees up to six schools converted to charters and up to 10 total coming under the purview of the Achievement School District each year.

After much discussion in a working group about how to amend the bill, Canavero said he’s still not sure the Clark County School District will get behind it, although Clark County Education Association chief John Vellardita said Monday that the A+ Schools model is “a good idea” and he expects his union will formally support the idea at the hearing.

Sandoval, for his part, voiced confidence in the Achievement School District amid efforts to roll it back.

“The Achievement School District was, and continues to be, a key component of that comprehensive effort to fundamentally reform education across Nevada,” he wrote in a letter last week to veto SB173, which sought to subject Achievement charters to prevailing wage rules that govern construction projects on traditional public schools.

Canavero echoed the sentiment.

“The governor won’t relent that their needs to be a line in the sand that ultimately gives the system a bit of a shake when we’re not seeing the outcomes for the kids that they deserve,” he said.

Feature photo: A student uses a tablet computer at Richard C. Priest Elementary School in North Las Vegas on Tuesday, March 21, 2017. Clark County School District designated it as a turnaround school after being one of the lowest-performing elementary schools in the state. Photo by Jeff Scheid.