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.
Tuesday, July 29, 2020
Clark County School District Board of Trustees Special Meeting
Click here to see the meeting agenda
What happened at this meeting?
Public Comment
Members of the public submitted comments online. Public comment was not read directly into the record, rather an oral summary of the comments was provided to Trustees.
- Click here to view public comment on agenda item 3.01
- Click here to view public comment on agenda item 3.02
- Click here to view public comment on agenda item 3.03
- Click here & here to view public comment on non-agenda items
Trustees Discussed District Relationship with State and Department of Education
Assembly Bill 2 (AB2) of the 31st Nevada Legislative Special Session proposed using individual school carry-forward dollars to fill budget cuts for the district due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools were granted the ability to maintain a fund balance from year to year based on Assembly Bill 469 (2017). AB2 did not pass, and was subject to controversy regarding who initiated the bill and whether Superintendent Jara misrepresented the role of CCSD in putting the bill forward.
Trustees discussed the potential impact of alleged misrepresentation by Superintendent Jara. Some Trustees expressed concern that the public and private discourse related to AB2 damaged the District’s relationship with Legislators, the Nevada Department of Education, and the Governor’s office. Other trustees asserted that major projects are underway with the Nevada Department of Education, and that tension has historically existed between CCSD and the Nevada Legislature regarding the funding of schools, specifically in times of revenue shortfalls.
Trustees referenced Balanced Governance policies to identify the role of the board in the communication process regarding potential bills to be brought forward to the legislature, as well as the Board’s intention to speak as one voice on all matters related to the district and directives to the Superintendent. No action was taken on this item.
Click here to review the timeline provided by CCSD
Click here to review the timeline submitted by Trustees
Click here to view all reference documents
Trustees Discussed Representations of Reopening Plan
Based on guidance provided by the Nevada Department of Education (NDE) on June 24, 2020, multiple interpretations surfaced regarding whether CCSD was required to submit a plan of learning in school year 2020-21 for approval that included 3 scenarios for reopening: distance learning only, hybrid learning, and in-person learning. Citing the NDE’s directive that districts or schools that do not submit adequate plans would be subject to escalating intervention (including revocation of a school district or school’s authority to implement education plans in cases of significant non-compliance), Trustees discussed the difference between submitting a plan for approval versus submitting a plan for review, and the associated consequences. Trustees also discussed confusion that arose from multiple disparate communications among individual Trustees and NDE staff, CCSD staff, Superintendent Jara, and State Superintendent Ebert.
Before the transition from agenda item 3.02 to agenda item 3.03, Trustees voted 4-3 to adjourn the meeting prior to reviewing the final item: Termination for Convenience of the Employment Contract with Dr. Jesus F. Jara.
Click here to view reference documents
Click here to read about this in the Nevada Independent
Click here to read about this in the Las Vegas Review Journal