The Ed-Watch series is designed to increase access to information on decisions being made regarding public education in Clark County and Nevada.
Nevada State Board of Education
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 9:00AM. Click here to see the 2021 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.
Thursday, April 15, 2021
Nevada State Board of Education Meeting
Click here to see the meeting agenda
What happened at this meeting?
Public Comment
Members of the public provided comment regarding:
- Concerns that school principals lack autonomy
- A need for guidance for SOTs to provide feedback on experiences with school staff
- Concerns about the employee reassignment process
President’s Report
- Silver State Governance Training
- The Silver State Governance training supports boards in developing goals and guardrails to ensure that the board is focused on students and student outcomes. On April 9, 2021, the SBOE held a work session to begin drafting a new organizational vision focused on student outcomes in Nevada. SBOE will be scheduling an additional work session to continue the development of the draft. The draft vision speaks to ensuring that all Nevada students are equipped and feel empowered to foresee the future of their choosing as a result of collective efforts. SBOE will be seeking public feedback on the draft vision.
Superintendent’s Report
- Legislative Update
- Friday, April 9, was the deadline for bills in the Nevada Legislature to pass out of the houses in which they were entered. All six of the Nevada Department of Education’s (NDE) bills passed out of their respective houses. There were several amendments that were made to improve the bills. Assembly Bill 265 regarding Alternative Routes to Licensure for administrators will receive no further action because it did not pass out of its first house committee pursuant to the April deadline.
- Pupil-Centered Funding Plan Update
- On April 7, the NDE participated in a workshop with the Senate Committee on Finance and the Senate Committee on Ways and Means to discuss the pupil-centered funding plan and is also working with the Commission on School Funding. Superintendent Ebert shared that the funding formula should provide additional transparency to the use of education funds. Currently, the Nevada Legislature is considering a phased approach to implementing the formula and the NDE anticipates it moving forward.
Click here to read the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan Summary.
- Blue Ribbon Commission for a Globally Prepared Nevada Update
- SBOE is currently working with the Blue Ribbon Commission to begin implementation planning for competency-based learning.
Board Approved Consent Agenda
Consent agenda highlights:
- Approval of instructional materials related to Principles of Cybersecurity and Forensic Science
- Approval of dual credit course requests for Clark County School District and White Pine County School District
- Approval of the First Quarter Fiscal Year 2021 Class Size Reduction Report
- Approval of the re-licensing of Kids R Kids Learning Academy in CCSD for a four-year period
- Approval of digital development standards related to student competency and performance upon completion of an advanced high school Digital Game Development program
Board Approved Appointee to the State Public Charter School Authority Governing Board
The Nevada Department of Education is allotted two appointments to the State Public Charter School Authority (SPCSA) board. The SPCSA is the governing body that authorizes the opening and operation of public charter schools throughout the state.
The board approved a motion to appoint Erica Mosca as the SBOE designee.
Applications for the appointment were open through March 2021 and screened by the Nevada Department of Education.
Click here to view SPCSA appointee applications.
Board Heard Update Clark County School District’s Implementation of AB-469 (2017)
Assembly Bill 469 (2017) required the implementation of a plan to reorganize Clark County School District following the passage of Assembly Bill 394 (2015) which provides principals with increased autonomy over schools and budgets.
The State Superintendent of Public Instruction was given specific authority over monitoring the implementation of the reorganization. As such, the following components have been identified as necessary to be addressed by CCSD:
- Authority to select school staff
- Assignment of central staff to schools
- Allocation funds to schools
- Purchase of equipment, services, and supplies available from the district by schools
- School carry forward of year‐end balance (e.g. school carryover funds)
- Weighted per‐pupil funding
The Department identified the following problems to be solved by CCSD related to three of the six criteria:
- Complying with the requirement to grant principals control of teacher selection and placement; cases still exist where the central office assigns teachers to schools.
- Negotiating collective bargaining agreements with CCEA and ESEA that are consistent with the law (SB 224)
- Complying with the requirement to grant principals the freedom to determine which services, suppliers, and equipment to acquire; cases still exist where the central office is unacceptably constraining the range of principal choice with respect to certain services, suppliers, and equipment
- Providing schools precincts with access to carry forward funds early enough for schools to purchase additional personnel positions and instructional supports.
Board members discussed the need to determine the timely use of carryover dollars, the need for systems improvement to select licensed teachers, the need for solutions that help principals think outside the box to impact student outcomes, the potential for regulation that will give principals better access to carryover funds, and student outcomes-focused budget training for principals.
The Board plans to schedule work sessions with CCSD to understand its challenges and determine specific areas of support.
Click here to view the presentation.
Click here to view CCSD’s 2018 Plan for the Implementation of Actions to Finalize Compliance with AB 469.
Requests For Future Agenda Items
- A summary of key education-related bills following the close of the Legislative session
- A breakdown of any changes in responsibilities for the SBOE following bill decisions
- A working session on the SBOE’s vision and goals
- A statewide report detailing efforts on academic recovery of students related to the impact of COIVD-19
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