The Ed-Watch series is designed to increase access to information on what decisions
are being made regarding public education in Clark County and Nevada.
What is the State Board of Education & what are they responsible for? The Nevada State Board of Education adopts regulations based on Nevada laws, which are passed down to individual school districts in Nevada to implement. The Board has 11 total (7 appointed and 4 publicly elected) members.
How often does the State Board meet? The Nevada State Board of Education meets once per month on Thursdays at 9:00 AM or 2:00 PM. Click here to see the 2022 Board Meeting Schedule. Click here to visit Hope For Nevada’s #NVEd Calendar.
Can community members engage at State Board Meetings? A time for public comment is provided at the beginning (for agenda items) and at the conclusion (on any matter) of each Board meeting. Members of the public may provide public comment in writing via email; public comment will be accepted via email for the duration of the meeting and shared with the State Board of Education during the public comment periods. Public comment may be emailed to NVBoardED@doe.nv.gov.
Click here for a list of all State Board Members.
Friday, January 20, 2023
Nevada State Board of Education Meeting
Click here to see the regular SBOE meeting agenda.
Click here to watch the meeting playback.
What happened at the regular meeting?
Public Comment #1
Public comment was heard on the following subjects:
- A recommendation for educators and high school staff to include in the Career and College Readiness assessment committee
Board Discussed the State Plan for the Improvement of Pupils
Staff provided an overview of the Statewide Plan for the Improvement of Pupils (STIP), an analysis of data regarding success strategies, and how the state is performing on goals aligned with the STIP.
- Goal 1: Access to early care and education: Progress is mostly flat for accelerating Read by Grade 3.
- Goal 2: Access to effective teachers: Licensed educational personnel vacancies have dropped from 12.44% for the 2021-22 school year to 9.58% for the 2022-23 school year.
- Goal 3: Continued academic growth: Improvement has been showed among some student groups in closing pre-K-8 opportunity gaps, but gaps persist among others.
- Goal 4: Graduate future ready and globally prepared: Disparities among graduation rates in different student groups persist, with graduation rates dropping for students who identify as Black, American Indian-Alaska Native, and two or more races.
- Goal 5: Access to educational opportunities: Risk assessments are missing data points from the FY22 for comparisons.
- Goal 6: Safe environments: Five schools were rated as least favorable regarding physical safety.
Staff detailed certain considerations. Some progress has been made but there are opportunities for the Department, school districts, and schools to improve. There is some key data missing due to waivers and remote learning for SY 2019-20 and SY 2020-21. This makes it difficult to track progress.
Staff concluded that several actions listed in the strategies are “not within the purview of the Nevada Department of Education.” The Department will submit a 2023 STIP Addendum, shift the focus of strategies in the STIP to ensure alignment with different NDE divisions and boards, and identify and monitors supports available.
Final approvals will be considered at the March Board meeting.
Explore the presentation.
Board Received a Presentation on Bill Draft Requests of the 82nd Legislative Session
Staff provided an overview of the Department’s bill draft requests (BDRs) for the 82nd Legislative Session, which begins in February.
- Assembly Bill (AB) 65: A bill intended to clarify or make language more efficient in existing law. It has six parts: 1) educators may receive a summative evaluation during a third waiver year at the discretion of the supervisor or by request; 2) clarifies bullying definitions and reporting; 3) changes the process for adult-child complaints to be handled primarily within the district; 4) changes the kindergarten cut-off birthdate to August 1 and clarifies language about first and second grade students who did not attend kindergarten or first grade; 5) clarifies that work-based learning plans will be approved by superintendent; and 6) clarifies language differentiating between progressive discipline and restorative approaches.
- AB 42: Class size reduction reporting requirements, including class size reduction reporting and eliminating alternate reporting plans; adjusts certain class size requests; and shifts variance requests to be completed once per year instead of quarterly.
- AB 4: Adjusts the meeting timeline for the Commission on School Funding and revises membership for the Commission on Professional Standards
- AB 25: Expands Nevada’s Good Samaritan Law protection for both public and private schools
- Senate Bill (SB) 9: Removes end of course exams; eliminates participation in the parent report card form; adjusts timelines for reporting requirements for personnel and services report for local education agencies; increases the use of career and technical education funds that can include leadership, training, and workforce development activities; and adjusts provisions regarding the Educational Involvement Accord
- AB 54: Clarifies language that provides school districts as a reviewer for education plans for hospitals providing education services; updates language regarding free and reduced-lunch eligible students; creates consistency among the use of “attendance” and “enrollment” and updates the definition of chronic absenteeism.
Other pre-filed bills the Department is monitoring include:
- SB46 relating to the creation of Empowerment Districts (Carson City School District)
- SB47 on the creation of a Public Education Working Conditions Task Force, authorizing the Board of Trustees to build, purchase, or rent residential dwellings and eliminate teacher licensure fees (Clark County School District)
- SB56 on a Commission on School Modernization, consisting of all Nevada superintendents being tasked with undertaking a study and making recommendations to revise NRS and NAC on related matters (Washoe County School District)
- SB65, which requires members of a school board to provide a certification for school board candidates for training and professional development, and requiring fingerprinting for Board of Trustees candidates (Clark County School District).
Additional updates will be provided throughout the legislative session.
Explore the presentation and Assembly Bill 65 text.
Board Approved the Nevada Association of School Superintendents’ iNVest in Education Proposal
The Board approved endorsing the iNVest platform, which was presented at the December board meeting.
Review the iNVest handout.
Board Discussed Goals and the Board’s Self-Evaluation Process
The board reviewed the process that has been completed thus far: training, workshops, setting a vision and mission, as well as goals aligned with that vision; and then collaboratively discussed goals and objectives in alignment with the Silver State Governance training rubric. The rubric is scored by 0-4, with zero being not student outcomes focused and four mastering student outcomes focused.
- Adopting Vision and Goals Aligned to Student Outcomes – Discussed as Approaching the Student Outcomes Focus
- Adopting Guardrails Aligned to Vision – Discussed asApproaching the Student Outcomes Focus
- Devoting Significant Time to Accountability and Monitoring – Discussed as Not Student Outcomes Focused and Approaching Student Outcomes Focus
- Including Stakeholders in the Pursuit of the Vision – Discussed as Not Approaching Student Outcomes Focused and Meeting Student Outcomes Focus
- Leading with One Voice in Pursuit of Vision and Goals – Discussed as Approaching Student Outcomes Focus and Meeting Student Outcomes Focus
- Investing Time and Resources Towards Improvement – Discussed as Approaching Student Outcomes Focus and Meeting Student Outcomes Focus
Discussion included additional avenues for community engagement and future workshop content.
Explore the goals, guidelines, and rubric.
Board Discussed Future Agenda Items
The board reviewed the following items for inclusion in the 2023 calendar:
- State Board meeting start times
- Subcommittee findings and recommendations for the College and Career Readiness assessment
- State Board Officers elections
- English Mastery Council recommendations
- Workshops for school start times
Public Comment #2
- No public comment provided.
The next regular Board of Education meeting is scheduled at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 16, 2022.
