Nevada Ed-Watch 12/9/2021

What is the Board of Trustees & what are they responsible for? The CCSD Trustees are publicly elected decision-makers for the school district. They are responsible for providing oversight to the Superintendent and establishing District-wide policy. Trustees are accountable to work with their communities to improve student achievement.

Click here to learn more and see a list of current Trustees
Click here to find your Trustee District

How often does the Board of Trustees meet? Trustees meet twice per month (second and fourth Thursdays) at 5 pm both virtually and at the Edward A. Greer Education Center Board Room (2832 E Flamingo Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89121).

Click here for a full list of Trustees meetings and agendas
Click here to visit Hope For Nevada’s #NVEd Calendar

Can community members engage at Trustee meetings? Decision-making bodies benefit greatly from hearing public input and multiple perspectives. Currently, members of the public can submit comments on agenda and non-agenda items through email or voice recording. Public comment can be provided in person, via email, or via voice recording. Email comments should be submitted to Boardmtgcomments@nv.ccsd.net. To submit a voice recording on items listed on the meeting agenda, call 702-799-1166. Voice recorded public comment is limited to 1 minute 30 seconds.

Thursday, December 9, 2021

Clark County School District Board of Trustees Meeting

Click here for the meeting agenda.

Find the meeting playback on Facebook and CCSD EduVision.

What happened at this meeting?

Public Comment #1 on Non-Agenda Items

Members of the public shared comments regarding: 

• Concerns about adequate medical coverage and support for CCSD staff through Teachers Health Trust (THT) pharmacy benefits via CerpassRx.
• The increase in medication costs and decrease in medication coverages.
• The increase in medical care costs, which dissuades some teachers from seeking medical attention.
• Concerns from a student about the use of pepper spray by campus police and health-related side effects, as well as a request to ban CCSD’s use of it in schools.
• Staffing shortages and the weight absorbing extra classes places on teachers.
• Concerns about CCSD staff being subjected to weekly COVID testing.
• Concerns about education supports for students and the community of District C.
• Concerns by students that students are graduating high school without adequate education or a post-secondary plan.
• Requests by a student regarding listening to students and teachers who often feel ignored, providing additional instructional time, promoting available resources, informing a community-wide system, and setting high expectations for students with the aid of others instead of pushing them to the point of resistance.

Click here to view written public comment on non-agenda items submitted online.

Consent Agenda Highlights:

• Approval of student expulsions according to NRS 392.467 (Board Policy 5114 and Regulations 5114 and 5141.1).
• Authorization to purchase exam fees for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme for 369 juniors and seniors attending five International Baccalaureate World Schools, effective December 10, 2021, through June 30, 2022, in the amount of $170,408.
• Authorization to submit and implement the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Library Services and Technology Act Fund grant application to support library services responsive and accessible learning environments to meet the needs of CCSD students in Grades 6-12 in the amount of $550,000.
• Approval to implement ESSER II funds to purchase Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS®) professional learning for elementary administrators and Read by Grade 3 literacy specialists to improve early literacy outcomes for an approximate cost of $800,000.
• Authorization to contract to hire up to 65 Teach For America teachers in the FY23 and FY24 to teach in critical need subject areas in at-risk schools for two-year periods, at the then-current salary negotiated between CCSD and the Clark County Education Association (CCEA).
• Approval of the adoption of CCSD Policy 6120, Multi-Tiered System of Supports.
• Adoption of the 2021‑2022 Amended Final Budget and authorization for members of the Board of School Trustees to sign and file as required by NRS 354.598005.

Members of the public shared comments on this agenda item regarding:

• The need for more transparency around the implementation of CCSD Policy 6120, Multi-Tiered System of Supports.
• Concerns about the focus on funding professional learning over the focus on utilizing wraparound services and motivating students.
• The amount of funding allocated for the Building and Implementation of the human capital management system given its current deficiencies.
• Gratitude for CCSD’s investment into Community High School’s new campus.
• Concerns regarding bullying toward special education students in schools.
• The need for the District to evaluate the leadership at the principal level to ensure principals know how to work with culturally and linguistically diverse students and students with disabilities, and engage with parents.
• Support of the Prevention, Advocacy, Choices, and Teamwork (PACT) Coalition grant and Leader in Me program at Cynthia Cunningham Elementary School.

Click here to view a detailed list of all consent agenda items.

Board Approved Transfers of Responsibilities under NAC 388G (Formerly AB 469, Section 16 of the 2017 Legislative Session) (6-1)

CCSD has a deadline of January 15 to meet strategic budgets that are moving forward. This agenda item is related to a 2018 decision of the board of trustees to approve transfers of responsibilities for specialized central services using service level agreements (SLAs). This included restrictions that required schools to purchase services from the central office under SLAs and required any future changes that risk job loss to be approved by the board of trustees. 

During the September 30, 2021, joint meeting of the Nevada State Board of Education and CCSD, board members and trustees heard a presentation on why the SLAs in place did not meet all of the requirements of state regulations.

This agenda item was brought before the board with the purpose of 1) bringing CCSD into compliance with NAC 388G as it relates to SLAs, and 2) completing full transfers of responsibilities for items that the Superintendent recommends be carried out by schools under the full authority of the principal.

In order to correct the compliance with NAC 388G, CCSD must either bring the existing SLAs into compliance which would allow principals to opt-out of the service, or remove the SLAs. The District’s position is that it’s not in the best interest of students or principals to opt out of most of these services, and the right path would be to remove the agreements. This would give the District the ability to implement SLAs only in cases where the agreements can be implemented in support of providing equitable and adequate services to all students and schools in partnership with principals, with the advice of SOTs, and in full compliance with NAC 388G.

CCSD central office presented the following four recommendations based on feedback from stakeholders and compliance with NAC 388G: 

• Recommendation 1: The transfer of responsibility to schools to carry out English Language Learner Placement Testing Personnel services without the requirement to purchase services from the District under a service level agreement.
• Recommendation 2: The transfer of responsibility for Utilities and Trash Disposal from schools back to central office and the implementation of an energy conservation rebate program to encourage efforts to conserve energy at all schools
• Recommendation 3: The transfer of responsibility for Landscape Maintenance to rural schools with principals who accept the responsibility without the requirement to purchase services from the District under a service level agreement and the transfer of responsibility for Landscape Maintenance from all other schools back to central office.
• Recommendation 4: The transfer of responsibility for all remaining responsibilities currently transferred to schools under a service level agreement from schools back to central office.

Members of the public shared comments on this agenda item regarding:

• The exclusion of names of the individuals and schools that participated in the feedback to allow for follow-up.
• Opposition to Section 4 and the need to provide as much autonomy as possible to schools so that decisions are made with individual students in mind.
• Gratitude that recommendations are being brought forth in an effort to make progress.
• Concerns about the position rural schools with be put in based on the recommendations.
• Lack of clarity around why these recommendations are coming forth at this particular time.
• Concerns about the low number of survey participants.

Trustees and presenters discussed the need to clarify that the Section 4 recommendation refers only to the specific agreements outlined in the supplemental document, the implications on cost savings, potential challenges if the agenda item did not pass, and the implications on strategic budgets due to principals on January 15.

A motion passed 7-0 to approve a call for the question.

A motion passed 6-1 to approve the transfers of responsibilities in Recommendations 1-3 as written as well as in Recommendation 4 with a friendly amendment to specifically state that the recommendation is applicable only to the agreements presented in the supplemental document.

Click here to view the transfer of responsibilities supplemental document.

Click here to read about this agenda item in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Click here to view written public comment submitted online.

Trustees Adopted the 2021-2022 Amended Final Budget

In accordance with NRS 354.598005(9), CCSD must file an amended final budget no later than January 1 of each year. The final budget will be submitted to the County Auditor and filed with the Department of Education, the Department of Taxation, and the County Clerk. The Board heard a presentation on the modifications from the 2021-2022 final budget.

Highlights:

• There are still uncertainties related to the COVID-19 fiscal impact, enrollment, and strategic objectives related to the use of ESSER III federal funding – CCSD will continue to monitor and evaluate these uncertainties.
• Student enrollment is predicted at 302,000 students for FY2022.
• CCSD has spent/allocated the following federal funds: $84 million under ESSER I, $346 million under ESSER II, and $778 million under ESSER III.
• The pupil-centered funding plan is in place. The plan has two main elements: 1) the base funding amount allocated for every K-12 student, and 2) the weighted funding amounts allocated for students at risk of not graduating with their cohort, English language learners, and students in gifted and talented programs. Programs funded outside of the pupil-centered funding plan include federally funded programs such as special education, National School Lunch State Match, Career & Technical Education, Title grants, and non-K-12 programs including Pre-K and the Teach Nevada Scholarship.
• The 2022 budget includes a significant increase in funds from the previous fiscal year budget due to monies moved in that were previously grant-funded as well as additional funding from the per-pupil funding plan. The increased funding will be utilized for employee raises, increases in medical benefit contributions, increasing the unassigned fund balance, and operational needs.

Click here to view the presentation. 

Click here to view the budget narrative.

Public Comment #2 on Non-Agenda Items

Members of the public shared public comments regarding: 

• Gratitude to trustees and the superintendent.

• Concerns regarding support staff pay.
• The need for the district to support teachers with tools necessary to support students in cultural competency.
• Wonderings about whether the Nevada Educator Performance Framework (NEPF) has helped with Nevada’s national ranking and concerns about measures outlined for educators.
• Lack of classroom supplies for teachers.
• Concerns with the new grading policy.