Washoe County School

Berkley Announces $550000 Grant to Reduce School Violence in Nevada

Congresswoman Shelley Berkley today announced that the Department of Justice has awarded the Clark County School District Police Department and the Washoe County School District Police nearly $550,000 in funding for the Secure Our Schools (SOS) program as part of the federal Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program.

“Preventing school violence and keeping students and teachers safe in our classrooms are top priorities and these resources will help our school police with this vital mission,” Berkley said. “With the new school year upon us, young people will be spending more time in the classroom, on the campus, and participating in afterschool activities. Their safety is vital for creating an educational environment where they can learn and feel comfortable and safe inside and outside the classroom.”

The Washoe County School District Police will receive $486,276 and the Clark County School District Police Department will receive $61,250 to improve the safety of schools in both Northern and Southern Nevada and further protect our children from school violence.

“I have strongly supported the COPS program throughout my service in Congress. I am proud to have worked to preserve funding for COPS grants in Nevada, and fought to prevent cuts that would have gutted the program and jeopardize public safety,” Berkley concluded.

Principal hits streets in quest to bring students back to class | U.S. ...

Mojave High School Principal Antonio Rael (right) and Dean of Students Nathalie Burgess (left) walk to an at-risk, “non-returning” student’s home during the Clark County School District’s “Reclaim Your Future” event on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2011. The volunteer event encourages at-risk, “non-returning” students to come back to school and graduate.

Antonio Rael takes a deep breath and rings the front door bell.

Dogs start barking from within the house, the noise piercing the morning quiet. A few foreclosure signs dot the neighborhood around the single-story house two blocks south of Mojave High School.

It’s 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning, but Mojave’s new principal is hard at work, trying to win back the hearts and minds of 24 students who didn’t show up at the North Las Vegas school during the first two weeks of classes.

They are among some 2,200 “non-return students” in the Clark County School District — kids who were enrolled in the spring but failed to return in the fall. These at-risk students leave no paper trail, no transfer forms, no transcript requests, no re-enrollment applications.

They simply disappear.

But Rael is determined to find out what happened to his students. That’s why he is giving up his Saturday morning — along with more than 300 other educators, public officials and community members — to participate in the School District’s first “Reclaim Your Future” event.

Working in groups of three, volunteers visited the homes of some 300 students across the district who, for some reason or another, have slipped through the cracks. The goal: Engage students and their families in a meaningful dialogue about their future and what resources they have to help them graduate.

Rael waits patiently at the door, glancing around the house. After a few long minutes, the garage door opens and a man in shorts and a T-shirt steps out.

Rael walks over, introduces himself and says, “We’re looking for Steven. Do you know where he is?

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