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 9:00 AM or 2:00 PM. 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, July 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:
- Concern over masks and vaccine rollout for students in Carson City
- Concern for the welfare and safety of Carson City students in regards to vaccines, masks, and the city’s school reopening plan
- Concerns regarding the welfare and morale of educational support professionals
President’s Report
The president and board welcomed a new board member, Russell Hecht, Superintendent of Schools in Pershing County and the immediate past president of the Nevada Association of School Superintendents (NASS). He will replace current board member, Mike Walker.
Superintendent’s Report
- 21st Century Community Learning Center Grant Awards: The 21st Century Community Learning Center program supports the creation of community learning centers that provide academic enrichment opportunities during non-school hours for children, particularly students who attend high-poverty and low-performing schools. The Nevada Department of Education announced the award of $7M to 13 partners across the state to support out-of-school activities.
- Nevada Association of School Superintendents (NASS) Conference: The board discussed the upcoming NASS conference. Ongoing details will be provided throughout the development of the conference.
- Federal Relief Funding Update: Nevada has received roughly $9B in federal relief funds. Nevada school districts receiving fund allocations are required to submit a plan for the safe return to in-person instruction and continuity of services to the Nevada Department of Education by July 14, 2021. By September 10, 2021, districts are also required to submit their ARP ESSER funding plans.
- Additional updates:
- The board shared congratulations for Sarah Nick, the new Education Programs Professional, who is moving from the executive team to the Office of Student and School Supports.
- The Division of Business and Support Services has been renamed Student Support Services.
- The board wished Board President Ortiz a happy birthday.
Board Approved Consent Agenda
Consent agenda highlights:
- Approval of career and technical education instructional materials, including On Cooking: A Textbook of Culinary Fundamentals, Introduction to Community and Public Health, and KP Compass
- Approval of Dual Credit Courses for Washoe County School District
- Approval of Private School Licenses
- Approval of meeting minutes for the May 21, 2021 Work Session and the June 3, 2021 Board Meeting
Board Heard Update on the 81st Legislative Session
The Board heard updates following the close of the 81st Legislative Session, including an update regarding the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan.
Legislation filed on the Nevada Department of Education’s behalf and successfully passed:
- SB439: Pupil-Centered Funding Plan
- AB38: Work-based learning
- AB67: Discipline clarity
- AB417: School bus safety
- SB36: Crises management
- SB215: Blue ribbon commission
- AB419: Standards
The presentation also covered all of the bills that will be managed by the State Board of Education in order to ensure proper reporting and accountability.
The Nevada Department of Education is currently in the regulatory work and stakeholder engagement section of the 2021-2022 legislative implementation plan. The next stage will be forming and conducting interim committees before beginning the budget and bill draft requests for the 2023 legislative session.
2021 legislative session funding bills:
- Standard Budget Bills
- Budget Implementation Bill
- SB-439: Pupil-Centered Funding Plan
- Other Education Finance Bills
Board members shared requests for clarification on requirement changes of the board in terms of regulatory matters, requests for per-pupil spending data in Nevada in comparison to other states, and concerns over infusion of federal funds without a plan for lasting change once these funds are no longer available.
Click here to view the legislative update presentation.
Click here to view a presentation on the budget approved during the legislative session and the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan.
Board Approved Vision Statement and Goals Aligned to Silver State Governance
The Board approved a new organizational vision statement: All Nevada students are equipped and feel empowered to attain their vision of success.
The Board will continue their work regarding the development of goals to monitor student outcomes as outlined by Silver State Governance. As part of this work, the SBOE has attended Silver State governance training and conducted a self-assessment in order to grow in student focused governance and create goals to monitor student outcomes.
The board also approved two final goals and discussed one proposed goal aligned to these outcomes:
- Approved Goals
- The Nevada Education System will move up in state rankings from 18th as of September 2020 to Top 10 by July 2026 as measured by the academic portions of the Quality Counts K-12 student achievement data.
- Increase the overall number of students receiving their CCR diploma from 23.9% on July 31, 2021 to 50% on July 31, 2026 and eliminate gaps of student subgroups while raising the overall average.
- Proposed Goal
- Improve statewide culture and climate survey from the statewide score of 365 on July 31, 2020 to Y on July 31, 2026. This goal is on hold until the SBOE can receive a presentation with accurate data
Throughout the goal development process, the SBOE discussed appropriate language for each goal, what goal benchmarks should be set in regards to the state’s ranking and diploma attainment, and their concerns for goal success based on varying statewide and region-specific factors.
After approving the vision statement and two goals, the SBOE discussed guardrails for the two approved goals. Guardrails are “thou shalt not” phrases, the bumpers that will keep the board in line.
Guardrails:
- The State Superintendent will not propose major decisions that pertain to these goals to the Board without first having engaged students, families, and staff.
- We will not negatively impact student achievement of any student subgroup based on these goals.
- The above guardrails were not voted on, but they were decided as being the main guardrails as of now. The board wanted to pass them on to the State Superintendent for review and discussion.
Other considered guardrails:
- We will not overinflate star ratings over individual student outcomes.
- We will not move from a standard diploma without the rigor of the coursework to achieve the CCR diploma.
- We will not allow our overall graduation rate to drop.
- We will not narrow the breadth and rigor of curriculum being taught.
- We will not consider the results of student data without also considering their social emotional and mental health of the students and staff.
- We will not allow academic gaps between subgroups.
The State Superintendent and staff will come back with their thoughts and review on the approved goals. The SBOE will then finalize their third goal, guardrails, and decide on interim goals.
Click here to view the evaluation rubric.
Future Agenda Items
The board submitted requests for future agenda items including brainstorming possible regulatory options and a review of recent reorganization outcomes.
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