Memo: NSEA Supports Senate Bill 3 in the 32nd Special Session

NSEA represents thousands of education support professionals (ESPs) who provide vital services to children in Nevada’s public education system, including nutrition services, instructional assistance, school secretaries, maintenance and operations, and student transportation. Many of these employees work and are paid 9 or 10 months per year.

Many of our ESPs are low-wage and depend on summer jobs to make ends meet. A starting instructional assistant at the Clark County School District makes $11.12 per hour. Working only 9 months, they would make just over $17,000 for the school year, close to poverty wages.

Unfortunately with the pandemic, summer job opportunities have been severely limited. Nine, ten, and eleven-month education employees are not eligible to receive unemployment benefits during the summer months if they have a reasonable assurance to return for the next schools year (NRS 612.434).

NSEA has been working with the Governor’s office and others to figure out how these employees could benefit from programs like Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). While SB3 does not resolve this issue, it does give the Administration the flexibility they would need to implement a fix in the event PUA or some other federal relief program becomes available.