Foreign exchange teachers, recent college graduates, former charter school teachers and out-of-state transplants are among the 1,400 new teachers joining the Clark County School District (CCSD) this school year, which begins Aug. 12. 

Although the district has filled 94 percent of its nearly 17,000 classroom teacher positions, about 1,100 vacancies remain, said Jason Ginoza, CCSD’s assistant human resources officer. It’s about the same number of vacancies the district had before the start of the previous school year. 

“We're going to continue to push to fill as many as we can, as quickly as we can. And we'll continue that effort throughout the school year,” he said. 

Ginoza said recruitment efforts have been helped by recent salary increases and programs such as the Alternative Route to Licensure and the Paraprofessional Pathways Project, which make it easier for those with a bachelor’s degree outside of education and support staff to become teachers.

The district now has the second highest starting salary in the state, $55,000. Eureka County School District — which serves about 330 students — has the highest salary at $63,000.

At a recent Clark County Education Association (CCEA) event for new hires, several attendees spoke to The Nevada Independent about what brought them to the district. 

Joana Barajas-Garcia

Stanford Elementary School, Las Vegas

Second grade

The recent Nevada State University graduate said she initially wanted to be a social worker, but was inspired to pursue a career in education because of the great teachers she had as a student in the district. 

“I’m very family-oriented, and the teaching profession … helps you be in the family realm,” she said.

Barajas-Garcia, a Las Vegas native who recently had a child, said she chose to start her career at CCSD because of her history there as a student. Though the recent salary increase was a plus, she said it wasn’t the main reason she decided to start her teaching career with the district. 

“It’s not always for the money. It’s for the kids,” she said. “But I am glad that they increased the pay, especially with how the economy is right now.”

Lisa Lorenzo

Lied STEM Academy, Las Vegas

Sixth grade English

Lorenzo is coming to the district after working at a local charter school for seven years. Prior to that, she worked at Los Angeles Unified School District for two years. 

“I was no longer happy at the school that I was teaching at, and I'm excited about the pay scale that CCSD is offering,” she said.

Lorenzo didn’t specify how much she will be paid at CCSD, but said it was $20,000 more a year raise from at her previous school, which she called “life changing.”

She said she’s had a positive experience with the district as a mother of two students, and will be teaching at the school that her sons attend. She said she’s impressed by the school’s teachers, students and the programs they offer. 

The grade level will also be a shift for her after teaching high school English, but Lorenzo said she is looking forward to working with her students and getting to know them. 

“I want them to grow in my subject area, but I also want them to grow as a person and to feel like I'm an adult in their life that they can rely on,” she said. 

Diana Miranda

Sunrise High School, Las Vegas

Art

Miranda is coming to CCSD looking for a change of scenery — and weather — after working one year as a teacher in Fairbanks, Alaska, as part of the J-1 visa program that allows people from other countries  to come to the U.S. teach, study, conduct research, demonstrate special skills or receive on the job training. The district has hired nearly 200 J-1 visa teachers for this upcoming school year representing seven countries including the Philippines, Jamaica and India, district officials said at a July 27 meeting of the legislative interim education committee. 

So why Las Vegas? Coming from the Philippines, which is known for its tropical climate, she said it was hard for her to adjust to the cold Alaska weather. Miranda said she also heard good things about the district. 

“I like to challenge myself for my own personal and professional development,” she said. “It's hard to teach when you are outside of your comfort zone.” 

She said she’s looking forward to connecting with her students, learning about American culture from them and teaching them about her Filipino culture. 

“I'm looking forward to [having] a good engagement with the students … and just having fun and enjoying while teaching and learning,” she said. 

Yvonne Gardea

Northeast Career and Technical Academy, North Las Vegas

Counselor 

This school year will be Gardea’s first working as a high school counselor. She said her family moved to Nevada from Texas, where she worked as a counselor for 13 years at an El Paso college, for her husband’s new job. 

Gardea said she decided to apply to work for CCSD, the fifth-largest school district in the country, to challenge herself.

“It's going to be a new journey, but … I do know what it is that they need in high school so that they could be successful in college so I'm very excited about that,” she said. 

Gardea said she was encouraged by the recent teacher salary increases, but was disappointed to hear that she will have to pay for supplies out of pocket and have limited out-of-town professional development opportunities. 

“I'm hoping that being part of this union (CCEA)… I could move toward that and see what we could do about it,” she said.