Connecting Kids ‘Connecting Kids’ initiative ensures 100% of Nevada’s students participating in digital learning have access to a computer and the internet at home. In the summer of 2020, amidst the disruption and uncertainty of COVID-19, Nevada school leaders announced that all students would begin the academic year with online learning. School was starting in a few weeks, and an untold number of Nevada’s nearly 500,000 public school students would be excluded because they lacked internet or a computer. Statewide, school district leaders were initially unable to confirm that more than 120,000 students had access to reliable internet and a device to participate in digital learning. These 120,000 “missing students” needed to be found and connected.
A Shift to Remote Learning. An Urgent Need to Respond.
As part of Governor Steve Sisolak’s COVID-19 Task Force, “Connecting Kids” was developed. Connecting Kids is a statewide public-private partnership between public school districts, charter schools, the Nevada Department of Education, dozens of community groups, businesses, state agencies, local municipalities, non-profit organizations, education advocacy groups, Chambers of Commerce, food banks, and more to ensure 100 percent of Nevada’s students had online access and devices. The Nevada COVID-19 Task Force coalition quickly established a virtual Family Support Center — run by Communities In Schools of Nevada — that served as a third-party entity capable of signing up eligible families for subsidized internet through Cox Communications. The COVID-19 Task Force invested about $200,000 to contract with a proven vendor to supply the software for the Family Support Center. To establish the center, Communities In Schools of Nevada worked closely with the Clark County School District, The Public Education Foundation, and the Elaine P. Wynn & Family Foundation, in particular Punam Mathur, Executive Director of the Elaine P. Wynn & Family Foundation.
The Hub for Solutions. One Family at a Time. The virtual Family Support Center — led by Communities In Schools of Nevada — staffed by up to 150 people who’ve never worked in a call support center before, operated 12 hours a day, with four shifts a day, six days a week. The center had to become fully operational with only a twoweek notice. It had to ensure every action integrated with school software systems used across 17 public and charter schools districts. It had to meet every federal and state legal requirement for privacy and child safety. It had to do all this during a pandemic. “We could not have done this without everyone coming together … pushing egos and obstacles aside … not accepting reasons to stop … and just saying, ‘We’re going to do this.’ I’m so pleased and honored to have been a part of this.” - Tami Hance-Lehr, CEO & State Director, Communities In Schools of Nevada 17 | CIS of Nevada Annual Report 2020-21
Copy taken from the Community In Schools National Community Matters Report (2021)
