Sandoval calls weighted funding formula a 'big-ticket item' for education, says it's still a priority
Melanie Sanchez was too scared to join the robotics program at Cimarron-Memorial High School as a freshman.
“I didn’t even know what a drill was or how to turn it on,” she said.
But a mentor encouraged her to try a robotics camp the following summer, and it hooked her. Sanchez, who recently graduated, spent three years in the program and served as president of the High Rollers Team 987, which has snagged regional and global awards for its robotic creations.
Now, Sanchez is about to start her freshman year as a mechanical engineering major at UNLV. Her announcement drew hearty applause Monday afternoon from those seated in the high school’s workshop, where Gov. Brian Sandoval, state Superintendent Steve Canavero, Clark County Superintendent Jesus Jara, Tesla officials and others gathered to laud the program and tour the space.
Last month, Tesla unveiled $1.5 million in grant money as part of the electric carmaker’s commitment to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education in Nevada. On Monday, company leaders presented the school and its robotics students with the inaugural Tesla Spark Innovation Award.
The school served as a fitting backdrop for a back-to-school conversation about career and technical education programs, which have grown in importance given the state’s changing job landscape.
“We are talking about the new Nevada,” Sandoval said after the event. “We’ve got these amazing companies moving here that need the skills that these kids are learning in STEM education. For me, I want them to be educated in Nevada, but if they go somewhere else for college or any type of school, that they come back.”
Monday marked the first day of school for the more than 322,000 students that attend the Clark County School District. As a new academic year gets underway, broader education funding discussions have been heating up across the state in the gear-up for the 2019 legislative session.
Sandoval, who’s finishing his second and final term, touched on what he’d like to see happen moving forward.
“I think we want to continue what we’ve done before with the categoricals,” he said, referring to his hallmark funding streams that have gone toward some of the state’s neediest children. “The Zoom Schools are working. The Victory Schools are working. Read By 3 is working. All-day kindergarten is working … I can keep going down the line.”
But the governor also acknowledged that work remains, particularly with the weighted-funding formula, which would funnel state dollars to schools based on students’ needs.
“That’s something, you know, we weren’t able to complete,” he said. “It’s a big-ticket item, but we’re going a long way toward getting that done. We’re building the budget right now. K-12 education will continue to be a priority for me.”
Sandoval also complimented members of the School Safety Task Force he convened earlier this year. The group sent him an initial report this summer.
“Essentially, there are a lot of recommendations in there that we are pouring through,” he said. “Some of those come with a price tag … It’s a priority for me to fund those and to work in partnership with the school districts because at the end of the day, we want to keep the kids safe.”
Sandoval toured the school’s robotics workshop with his new wife, Lauralyn McCarthy, whom he married Saturday at Lake Tahoe. He described the wedding as “the best day ever.”
“Lauralyn is an amazing woman,” he said, “and I look forward to our years ahead.”