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 5pm at the Edward A. Greer Education Center (Board Room): 2832 E. Flamingo Road, 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. Community members can sign up to speak after the agenda has been posted– by calling the Board Office at (702) 799-1072 at least 3 hours before the scheduled meeting, or signing up in-person at the beginning of the meeting. Prior to each agenda item being voted on, speakers can share their perspective after the Board’s discussion and prior to the vote.
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Clark County School District Board of Trustees Emergency Meeting
Click here to see the meeting agenda & Addendum
What happened at this meeting?
Public Comment
Members of the public submitted comments online. Public comment was not read into the record, and rather a summary of comments was provided to Trustees. Click here to see public comment submissions.
Consent Agenda Highlights:
- Agreement between CCSD and the Clark County Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJS). In October 2019, Clark County Commissioners allocated $12 million for CCSD to address chronic absenteeism in partnership with DJJS.
- Implementation of Title I School Improvement grants for Bailey Middle School and Eldorado High School.
Trustees Heard Updates about the District’s Response to COVID-19
Presentation Highlights:
- All CCSD buildings remain closed through phase 1 of Governor Sisolak’s reopening plan. Employees who are currently working at school sites will continue working. Other personnel will return to in-person work as phase 1 of the reopening plan proceeds.
- Meals: CCSD will continue to provide meal services for students (including on Memorial Day) until June 30th, or until the Federal Government’s state of emergency is lifted (whichever comes first). To date, CCSD has distributed 2 million meals.
- Attendance: During the week of April 20th, approximately 251,000 students were considered present. CCSD is continuing to conduct wellness checks for students that were not successfully contacted since the transition to distance learning. Out of the target of 2,362 students, 1,280 students were successfully contacted. There are 10 attendance officers and 50 social workers doing door-to-door contact.
- Chromebooks: 85,000 students have received Chromebooks. CCSD has 157,000 Chromebooks left to deploy.
- Professional Development: Over the summer, CCSD will be offering online professional development for educators to strengthen their distance learning skills. Additionally, CCSD is deploying learning opportunities for parents to support their children’s learning at home.
- Summer School: Extended learning will be available throughout the summer on CCSD’s website and at food distribution sites. Extended School Year (summer school) will also be offered via distance education for credit-deficient 6th-12th graders. Summer school prices have been reduced to $70 per half credit. Students should reach out to their school counselors to apply for available fee waivers.
- Reopening: CCSD is convening a Reopening Our Schools Working Group. Trustees directed staff to ensure that parents, educators, and support staff are each represented in the working group. The guiding principles of the group are as follows:
- Ensure the safety and well-being of all students and employees.
- Promote equity and accessibility to learning for all students.
- Provide instructional delivery systems to meet the needs of all students.
- Foster positive relationships and interactions.
- Funding:
- The Nevada Department of Education will release an application for districts and LEA’s to apply for federal emergency funds on May 12th.
- There are $26 million in additional education funds at the state level that have not yet been allocated.
- CCSD is working with the federal delegation to advocate for a $250 billion request for additional funding for K-12 schools in the U.S. to serve the needs of at-risk students populations.
- PPE: CCSD is coordinating with the state and Superintendent Ebert’s task force to secure Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
Public Comment: Members of the public provided testimony regarding:
- Concerns for the safety of students and staff
- Concerns about the academic success of students
Click here to see the presentation.
Trustees Discussed a Proposal to Increase Substitute Teacher Pay
CCSD’s Chief Human Resource Office and Director of Substitute Services presented a proposal to increase pay for substitute teachers across the district. There are currently 4,264 active substitutes.
Proposed pay increases:
- Day to Day Substitute – $110 per day (+$20/day)
- Day to Day Early Hiring – $120 per day (+$40/day)
- Long Term Substitutes – $130 per day on day 11 (+$30/day)
- Long Term Early Hiring – $140 per day on day 11 (+$20/day)
- Vacancy Substitutes – $140 per day (+$30/day)
- Vacancy Early Hiring $150 per day (+30/day)
- Special Education and Hard to Fill – $150 per day starting on day one, rather than on day 21
Trustees agreed that while this was an appropriate starting point, additional considerations for increased pay, eligibility for health benefits, and sick leave are necessary. Trustees also suggested establishing a policy that ensures non-union employee pay keeps pace with collectively-bargained pay increases. Superintendent Jara stated that providing additional pay and exploring the cost of providing benefits is a budget priority.
Public Comment: Members of public provided testimony regarding:
- Support for increased pay for substitute teachers
- Concerns that the current proposal does not include benefits or sick leave
- Concerns that the substitute shortage will grow if wages are not increased
Click here to see the presentation.
Trustees Approved a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with ESEA
At the April 16th board meeting, Trustees approved agreements with the Education Support Employees Association (ESEA) that temporarily allows employees to “donate” unused sick leave to other employees impacted by COVID-19. Additionally, trustees approved additional pay for ESEA support staff who are actively serving the public. The new MOA extends these polices through December 21, 2020 and May 20,2020.
Click here to see the ESEA additional pay agreement.
Click here to see the ESEA sick leave donation agreement.
Requests for Future Agenda Items:
- A strategic plan to reach newly-adopted student ratios for school psychologists and counselors
- Additional information about access to summer school