Overview

Effective February 10, 2022, Nevada is operating underEmergency Directive 052, supported by Emergency Directive 052 Guidance. Emergency Directive 052 takes precedence over the previous 2021-2022 school year guidance and goes into effect for all Nevada school districts on February 11, 2022.  School districts are required to submit plans for outbreak mitigation to their local Nevada health authority no later than February 27, 2022.   

The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act awarded over $1 billion in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding for education to Nevada.Information on funding allocations to local education agencies (LEAs, referring to the 17 county school districts and the State Public Charter School Authority)can be found on the K-12 Federal Relief Funding webpage.   

TheU.S.Department of Education issued guidance regarding the requirements of stateeducation agencies and LEAs stemming from the ARP Act. LEAs receiving allocations through ARP (in Nevada, all except Eureka County School District), are required to develop and post to their websites two plans: Plan for a SafeReturn to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services and ARP ESSER Use ofFunds Plans. Descriptions of the plan requirements as well as links to LEAs’ plans are included below.  

Plansfor Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services

Section2001(i)(1) of the ARP Act requires each LEA that receives ARP ESSER funds to develop and make publicly available on the LEA's website, not later than 30days after receiving ARP ESSER funds (in Nevada, no later than July 14, 2021), a plan for the safe return to in-person instruction and continuity of services for all schools, including those that have already returned to in-person instruction. 

• Section2001(i)(2) of the ARP Act further requires that the LEA seek public comment on the plan and take those comments into account in the development of the plan.
• Section2001(i)(3) of the ARP Act states that an LEA that developed a plan for the safe return to in-person instruction and continuity of services before the date of enactment of the ARP Act will be deemed to have met the requirement to develop a plan under section 2001(i)(1) as long as the plan meets the statutory requirements (i.e.,  is publicly available on the LEA 's website and was developed after the LEA sought and took into account public comment).  

On April 19, 2021, GovernorSisolak issued Declaration of Emergency Directive 044 requiring the Superintendent of Public Instruction to update the requirements and provide written guidance to LEAs regarding reopening plans and plans for Path Forward Programs of Distance Education for the 2021-22 school year. In accordance with Nevada Department of Education Guidance Memo #21-02, LEA approaches to Path Forward Programs of Distance Education were required to be incorporated into the federally required LEA Plans for SafeReturn to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services.  

Plans for ARP ESSER Useof Funds

The federally established minimum requirements for the ARP ESSER Useof Funds plans ensure that LEAs are using ARP ESSER funds for their intendedpurposes, including: 

• Whether and how theywill use the funds specifically for COVID-19 prevention and mitigationstrategies,
• How the funds will beused to address the academic impact of interrupted learning through theimplementation of evidence-based interventions, consistent with the requirementin section 2001(e)(1) of the ARP Act that each LEA reserve at least 20 percentof its ARP ESSER funds for that purpose, and
• How the LEA willensure that those interventions respond to the academic, social, emotional, and mentalhealth needs of all students and particularly those students disproportionatelyimpacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The LEA must submit its ARP ESSER plan no later than 90 days after receiving its ARP ESSER allocation (in Nevada, no later than September 10, 2021).  

In addition, Use of Funds plans must be: 

• In an understandable and uniform format;
• Tothe extent practicable, written in a language that parents can understand or, if it is not practicable to provide written translations to a parent with limited English proficiency, be orally translated for such parent;
• Uponrequest by a parent who is an individual with a disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act, provided in an alternative format accessibleto that parent; and
• Bemade publicly available on the LEA's website. 

Nevada Local Education Agency Plans