Nevada Ed-Watch: CCSD 8/24/23

Clark County School District Board of Trustees 

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
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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, August 24

Clark County School District Board of Trustees Meeting

Click here to see the meeting agenda.

Watch the meeting playback on CCSD EduVision.

What happened at this meeting?

Trustees Approved the Consent Agenda (6-0-1)

Consent agenda highlights include:

• Interlocal agreement between CCSD and the Southern Nevada Health District
• Unified and licensed personnel employment
• Several facilities items
• Focus: 2024 Strategic Plan update: Media Presence and Communications (update available in Spanish)
• Focus: 2024 Strategic Plan update: External Partnerships (update available in Spanish)
• Focus: 2024 Strategic Plan update: Employee Morale, Engagement, and Retention (update available in Spanish)
• Focus: 2024 Strategic Plan update: University of Family Learning Workshops (update available in Spanish)

Explore consent agenda items here.

Trustees Heard a Focus: 2024 Strategic Plan Update on Chronic Absenteeism

Highlights of the presentation included:

• Chronic absenteeism rates across the board are not meeting targets. District-wide, there was a 36% chronic absenteeism rate, against a target of 16%. Chronic absenteeism rates are higher in specific student groups.
• There is a slower than expected rebound, though metrics have improved slightly year over year. Districtwide, absenteeism decreased just over 2 percentage points in the 2022-2023 year.
• Chronic absenteeism impacts all other indicators, and staff underscored that more must be done to improve these rates.
• A root cause analysis across the entire system is needed.
• Consistency of implementation of CCSD Regulations 5113 and 5123 must be improved.

Explore the presentation in English and the presentation in Spanish.

Trustees Approved a Notice of Intent to Amend Regulation 6122 – Instructional Plans (7-0)

Trustees discussed a Notice of Intent to amend Policy 6122 on instructional plans. Changes include:

• Aligning instructional plans with Nevada academic content standards, Nevada educator performance framework and CCSD teaching and learning expectations
• Bringing a common language, consistent messaging, and greater clarity
• Details can be seen in the document linked below.

The changes will be considered at a future CCSD Board meeting on Thursday, September 14, at 5:00 p.m.

Explore the Notice of Intent.

Trustees Approved a Notice of Intent to Amend Regulation 6122 .1– Instructional Plans – Special Education Courses (7-0)

Trustees discussed a Notice of Intent to amend Policy 6122.1 on instructional plans for special education courses. Changes include:

• The term “Specially Designed Instruction” replacing “special education”
• Additions of success criteria aligned to learning intentions.
• Detailed edits can be seen in the document linked below.

The changes will be considered at a future CCSD Board meeting on Thursday, September 14, at 5:00 p.m.

Explore the Notice of Intent.

Trustees Heard an Update from the 2024 Legislative Session

Highlights of the presentation included:

• The legislative session began February 6, 2023 and adjourned on June 6, 2023. Two separate special sessions took place on June 6, 2023 and June 14, 2023, respectively.
• By the Numbers:
  • 1,234 Bill Draft Requests (BDR’s)
  • 1,040 Bills introduced
  • CCSD tracked approximately 200 bills
  • Approximately 85 bills enacted into law with some impact to CCSD
• Student learning bills included a historic increase in funding, including for special education.
• Workforce bills included a few with unfunded mandates and some that will have administrative challenges.
• Governance + Transparency bills in general did not align with the CCSD board goals and makes changes to board, committees and organizations related to school governance.
• Mental Health + School Safety bills included many aligned priorities including progress for bullying, student discipline, restorative practices, and more.
• Several educational bills were vetoed by Governor Lombardo.

Explore the presentation.

Trustees Approved the 2023 Annual Application Cycle for Proposed Charter Schools (7-0)

Trustees discussed six charter schools that have applied for authorization with the State Public Charter School Authority. The SPCSA must notify the local school district when they approve an application to operate a charter school. Highlights from the presentation include:

• SPCSA will be voting Friday, Aug. 25, on the applications heard in this meeting.
• There is one application cycle per year and in 2023 there were six applicants, with one withdrawal. Five applications will be considered. Data on each school individually can be found in the presentation linked below.

Review the presentation.

Trustees Held a Public Hearing on and Approved the New Memorandum of Agreement between CCSD and the Police Officers Association of CCSD regarding the Health Program for Qualified School Police Officers (7-0)

Trustees approved the new MOA between CCSD and the Police Officers Association of CCSD regarding the health program for qualified education support professionals. CCSD will increase its contribution to the health program by 15 percent. The total fiscal impact of this Agreement is approximately $200,000.

Review the fiscal impact summary and the Memorandum of Agreement.

Trustees Held a Public Hearing on and Approved the New Memorandum of Agreement between CCSD and the Police Administrators Association of CCSD regarding the Health Program for Qualified Police Administrators (7-0)

Trustees approved the new MOA between CCSD and the Police Administrators Association of CCSD regarding the health program for qualified police administrators. CCSD will increase its contribution to the health program by 15 percent. The total fiscal impact of this Agreement is approximately $16,000.

Review the fiscal impact summary and the Memorandum of Understanding.

Public Comment

Members of the public shared comments regarding:

• Teacher morale
• Race disparity
• Elective requirements
• SBTA staff and grants
• School transportation issues
• Critical race theory
• Gender, transgender policy and sports
• Board conduct
• Library program activism and successes
• Chronic absenteeism
• Public conduct

The next Meeting of the Board of Trustees is scheduled for September 14, 2023, at 5:00 p.m.