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.
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
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 Las Vegas Academy of the Arts High School, Lowden Theater: 875 E. Clark Avenue Las Vegas, Nevada, 89101
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 submitted by email 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, April 8, 2021
Clark County School District Board of Trustees Meeting
Click here to see the meeting agenda
What happened at this meeting?
Public Comment
Members of the public commented in-person, through voice recorded messages, and written public comment on non-agenda items regarding:
- Concerns about the ongoing impact of distance and hybrid learning on student mental health, and calls to immediately open schools at 100% capacity
- Concerns about distance learning class sizes in elementary schools
- Requests for communications regarding 5th-grade celebrations
- Concerns about rules only allowing spectators at certain types of student athletics events
- Requests for the Open Schools Open Doors agreement to be reinstated to allow for community use of school buildings
- Support for fully reopening school buildings for all students starting in the 2021-2022 school year
Click here & here to view public comments submitted online.
Trustees Approved Consent Agenda
Trustees approved the consent agenda (6-0), with one trustee not present to vote.
Consent Agenda Highlights:
- Grant application to Governor’s Emergency Education Recovery Funds for the of purchase Chromebooks, iPads, and technology kits for teachers, totaling $5,700,745.46
- Purchase awards totaling $16,633,977.15, including $7,400,000 for beverages for student meals and $73,482.00 for equipment to be used by police services to issue citations and warnings.
Trustees Approved 2021-2022 Tentative Budget
The tentative budget is required to be submitted to the Nevada Department of Taxation. Trustees were provided with an overview of the 2021-2022 tentative budget, presented by CCSD’s Chief Financial Officer. Currently, there are still significant uncertainties that could impact the District’s tentative budget, including student enrollment, plans for the return to school buildings, and state and federal legislation directed towards public school funding in Nevada.
The District is early in the planning process for the allocations of the second round of federal stimulus funding approved in 2020 and is anticipating approximately $800M through the third stimulus via the American Rescue Plan.
Trustees were also provided with an overview of the proposed phased approach to implementating the Pupil Centered Funding Plan, the updated funding formula that was passed during the 2019 NV Legislative Session. Under the current proposal, starting in the 2022-2023 school year, the State of Nevada would longer guarantee the funding that districts and local education agencies receive from local revenue sources.
The final budget will come before Trustees for approval at the May 20, 2021 meeting.
Click here to see the 2021-2022 Tentative Budget.
Click here to see the presentation.
Trustees Approved Notices of Intent for Policy & Regulation Changes
Four policies related to student discipline and expulsion will come before the board at the March 13, 2021 meeting for final approval. Members of the public can submit comments or feedback on the policies prior to or during that meeting.
Each of the policies includes general language updates to align with current district titles and names as well as legislation related to student discipline.
- Policy 5114: Discipline: Student Exemption and Exclusion
- Highlights: Updates the school principal to be the final approval and responsible party for any student suspensions & changes expulsion recommendations for students under the age of 11 found in possession of a firearm or dangerous weapon
- Regulation 5114.1: Discipline: Suspension Procedures
- Highlights: Updates the principal as the responsible school administrator to review all suspensions & limits suspension for special education students to no more than five days.
- Regulation 5114.2, Discipline: Expulsion Procedures
- Highlights: Language clean up regarding titles
- Regulation 5141.1, Discipline: Control of Dangerous and Antisocial Behavior
- Highlights: Updates mandatory expulsions to be for possession of firearms only. Other infractions previously identified as mandatory would now be discretionary.
Board Heard Update on 2021 Legislative Session
CCSD staff provided Trustees with an overview of education-related bills that were heard at the Nevada Legislature. Highlights from the presentation include an update on AB255, which would change the composition of boards of trustees (CCSD does not anticipate the bill to move forward) and SB120, providing for additional accountability measures for principals and requiring associate superintendents and above to reapply for their positions every 5 years.
Additionally, Trustees were informed that legislators are considering the implementation of the Pupil Centered Funding Plan and that the District believes schools that receive Zoom and Victory funding sources should continue to be funded at that same level through the 2022-2023 school year in order to fully minimize the impact of the consolidation of categorical funding sources. Superintendent Jara shared that he is working with the legislators to ensure they do not receive less funding while the new formula is implemented.
Click here to read about this in the Nevada Independent.