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.
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 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, September 23, 2021
Clark County School District Board of Trustees Meeting
Click here to see the meeting agenda
What happened at this meeting?
Public Comment on Non-Agenda Items:
Members of the public submitted public comment on agenda items regarding:
- Concerns that teachers still may be required to develop student learning goals.
- Concerns around workload and responsibilities of teachers.
- Concerns around transportation issues, specifically the school bus driver shortage and the effects on students, including cost burdens for families.
- Concerns around the district’s vaccine and mask policies, COVID-19 tracing policies, and other COVID-19 mitigation measures.
- Appreciation for teachers, support professionals, and trustees.
- Concern around negativity and hostility in district and at Trustee meetings.
- Concerns around violence among students, excessive force by CCSD police, and a request to eliminate the use of pepper spray in CCSD schools.
Click here to view written public comment on agendized action items submitted online.
Consent Agenda Highlights:
- Approval of contract with the WIDA Consortium to purchase the ACCESS for ELLS English Language Proficiency Assessment. Approximate cost: $1,612,600.
- Approval of Clark County School District Plan for Test Administration and Test Security 2021-22. The plan will now be submitted to the Nevada Department of Education for approval.
- Approval of contract with the Las Vegas Natural History Museum to provide opportunities for students and families to engage in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics activities. Approximate cost: $90,000.
- Approval of employment agreement for Betty J. Foley for Assistant General Counsel.
- Approval of amendment to Clark County School District Policy 5112, School Attendance Zone Assignment Exceptions and Clark County School District Regulation 5112, Zone Variance, Board-Approved Option, Transfer, and Magnet School Assignment. Trustees heard the presentation on the notice of intent to update school assignment policies and regulations at the August 26, 2021 meeting. For reference, CCSD Board Meeting Ed-Watch for August 26, 2021.
Consent agenda passed 6-0 with one trustee absent.
Members of the public submitted public comment on these agenda items regarding:
- Concerns around workload and responsibilities of teachers.
- Concerns around student testing.
- Concerns around Sami Rudolph’s employment with the district and frequent changes in general counsel.
- Concerns around zone variance policy.
Trustees Heard Presentation on the Differentiated School Support Framework
The district plans to implement a differentiated school support framework by utilizing data to identify schools that need additional support, provide unique, targeted interventions to each identified campus, and then monitor and follow up on the effectiveness of the applied solutions. The district will analyze quantitative data aligned with the Nevada School Performance Framework, or “star rating” metrics, qualitative data aligned with the Nevada Educator Performance Framework in order to identify schools that need additional support and assistance around academic performance, climate and culture, and instructional systems and structures. Each school will create a school specific performance and supplemental performance plan.
Members of the public submitted public comment on this agenda item regarding:
- Concerns around risk of creating data driven schools and the effect this system could have on students and teachers.
Click here to view the presentation.
Trustees Approved Memorandum of Agreement Regarding Reopening of Schools between the Clark County School District and the Education Support Employees Association (ESEA)
The third appendix to the memorandum of agreement regarding reopening of schools between CCSD and ESEA modifies the content of the work day to allow employees to complete the COVID-19 testing directives, clarifies that testing time will be paid, and encourages flexibility for testing requirements. The terms of this agreement will be effective retroactively from August 4, 2021.
Motion passed 6-0 with one trustee abstaining.
Members of the public submitted public comment on this agenda item regarding:
- Concerns around disbursement of stipends to support professionals and treatment of support professionals.
- Concerns around school bus driver shortage and treatment of current bus drivers.
- Concerns around COVID-19 testing policy.
Click here and here to view the reference documents.
Click here to view written public comment on this agenda item submitted online.
Trustees Approved the Fourth Appendix to the Memorandum of Agreement Regarding Reopening of Schools between the Clark County School District and the Education Support Employees Association (ESEA)
The fourth appendix to the memorandum of agreement regarding reopening of schools between CCSD and ESEA provides one-time additional compensation for the direct delivery of specialized personal services for special education students.
All Specialized Program Teacher Assistants (SPTAs) assigned to Helen J Stewart School, Variety School, John F. Miller School, and Miley Achievement Center will receive a stipend of $1,000. SPTAs assigned to work one-on-one with special education students will receive a stipend of $750.
Motion passed 6-0 with one trustee abstaining.
Click here and here to view the reference documents.
Click here to view written public comment on this agenda item submitted online.
Trustees Heard Presentation by the Clark County Education Association regarding Teachers Health Trust
The Teachers Health Trust (THT) has been around since 1983 and is a self funded, non-profit organization that services 34,000 CCSD educators. The governing board of THT is currently composed of district educators.
As of 2021, the THT has a new administration and has instituted new governance changes, including a change to the governance model, allowing a blended format of educators and professionals with expertise in healthcare and business finances to lead the governing board. An advisory committee of healthcare experts has also been created to help guide this transition.
The THT is currently operating with a deficit of $42,698,288. The organization plans to reduce this deficit to $3,409,372 by 2022 by increasing revenue by $16,308,420 and reducing expenses by $29,799,240, outlined in the below Expense Reduction Plan.
As of July 2021, the THT currently owes $40M in medical bills and has $24M in funds available.
Expense Reduction Plan:
- Administrative reorganization totaling $5M annually
- Reduced staff and staff compensation
- Eliminated vendors and renegotiated contracts
- Simplified and eliminated redundancies
- Health care delivery cost improvements totaling $17M annually
- Improved provider network discount
- Improved pharmacy delivery
- Reduced total cost of care management
Burden of Costs Shifted to Educators Plan:
- Increase contributions of educators each paycheck; totaling $7.1M
- Make changes to the benefit plan; totaling $7.8M
- Design changes and introduced high deductible health plan options
Proposed Revenue Improvement Plan:
- In order to reduce the deficit to $3,409,372, the THT is requesting that CCSD contribute an additional $9.2M. Superintendent Jara and CCSD Assistant General Counsel/Chief Negotiator Fikisha Miller advised that they are unable to provide commentary on this proposed request
Members of the public submitted public comment on this agenda item regarding:
- Concerns around funding of the Teachers Health Trust and whether teachers will be equitably provided with quality health insurance.
Click here to view the presentation.
Click here and here to view additional reference documents.
Click here to view written public comment on this agenda item submitted online.
Public Comment on Non-Agenda Items
Members of the public submitted public comment on non-agenda items regarding:
- Concerns that CCSD anti-bullying policies are not translated in Spanish
- Concerns with teacher contracts and wellbeing of all educators
Click here to view written public comment on non-agenda items submitted online.
