Tag: ccsd budget

Nevada Ed Watch 7/11/19

Posted on by Opportunity 180

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, July 11, 2019

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 provided testimony both in support and opposition of the decision to eliminate the dean position in the Clark County School District.

Trustees Unanimously Approved the Consent Agenda

Consent agenda highlights:

Trustees and CCSD leadership also discussed accountability and a plan to scale the success of the eight middle schools that were designated as Innovative Schools.

Click here to learn more and see a full list of Innovative Schools.

Trustees Approved CCSD’s Annual Membership with the Nevada Association of School Boards

Trustees approved the annual fee for the Clark County School District to be a member of the Nevada Association of School Boards. Total membership cost was $29,874.23.  

Trustees Heard a Presentation on the Qualitative Budget Forecast

The presentation, led by CCSD’s Chief Financial Officer, covered the current budget forecast and a review of recent financial information.

Click here to see the presentation. 

Trustees Discussed the Decision to Eliminate the Dean Position

Trustees heard from members of the public both in support and in opposition of the decision to eliminate the dean position.

Specifically, members of the public provided testimony regarding:

  • Calling for teachers and administrators to work together to advocate for more funding at the county and state level
  • Requesting a forensic audit of the CCSD budget
  • Looking for other ways for the district to acquire more money

Trustees clarified that money could not come from the ending fund balance, and that they could not postpone the cuts until next year. 

Trustees did not vote on this decision because they do not have the authority to overrule, per board policy. However, Superintendent Jara committed to working with his cabinet and principals, with public input in mind, to identify alternative cost saving strategies. 

Click here to read about this in the Nevada Independent.

Trustees Approved a Partnership with Acceleration Learning

Acceleration Learning provides academic programming and support for students who have dropped out, so they can receive a high school diploma. Board discussion addressed concerns about staffing the program with out-of-state personnel, ensuring funding transparency, and getting clarification on enrollment expectations.

Click here to learn more about Acceleration Learning. 

Trustees Heard a Presentation on the CCSD K-12 Student Code of Conduct

The Equity and Diversity Education Department provided information to Trustees related to student discipline and an analysis of cultural inclusivity in schools. 

Click here to view the presentation

Click here to see the Culturally Inclusive School Analysis.

Trustees Heard a Presentation About Food Service 

The presentation was about increased participation and improved quality in meal services, which is part of the CCSD Focus 2024 strategic plan.

Click here to see the presentation.

Trustees Approve a Customer Service Agreement with Nevada Energy

Trustees approved a customer service agreement with NV Energy, who proposed an incentive program to retain CCSD as a full service customer over a five year term.

Click here to see the agreement.

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Nevada Ed Watch 5/20/19

Posted on by Opportunity 180

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.

Monday, May 20, 2019

Special Board Meeting, Adoption of Final Budget

Click here to see the meeting agenda

What happened at this meeting?

Trustees Unanimously Approved the CCSD 2019-2020 Final Budget

Jason Goudie, CCSD’s Chief Financial Officer, provided a presentation on a proposed balanced budget for school year 2019-2020. The budget is similar to the tentative budget shared with the Board on April 3rd. The budget can be reopened until December of 2019 to account for any additional revenue that is not yet planned.

Highlights of the budget included:

  • Enrollment has decreased slightly and is reflected in the proposed budget.
  • The projected funds per pupil from the Distributive Schools Account (DSA) is $5,863. This may change once the State budget is finalized.
  • There was an increase in the local school support tax.
  • School year 2018-2019 will end with a 2% fund balance. The Focus 2024 plan aims for a 4% ending fund balance in future years.
  • A commitment to work with staff to protect items that are closest to students if cuts are required.

Following the presentation, Trustees raised questions and concerns, including:

  • Concerns about school safety and the impact of state funds not being directed towards safety efforts.
  • Determining a plan for families and the public to learn more about the budgeting process and how decisions have and will be made.
  • Questions about how to account for future changes in student enrollment and its impact on the budget.

Click here to see the presentation.

Click here to see the Final Budget.

Potential Future Agenda Items:

  • Salary increase chart over time for teachers
  • Overview and timeline around revenue growth and ability to access funds

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Nevada Ed Watch 5/9/19

Posted on by Opportunity 180

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 9, 2019

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 provided testimony to Trustees regarding:

  • Request for support of infrastructure improvements at the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts
  • Concerns about bullying in schools, working conditions for educators, and demotions for support staff
  • Concerns about School Organization Teams (SOTs) and parent voices not being heard in school hiring decisions, as well as the process for informing the school community about leadership changes

Trustees Unanimously Approved the Consent Agenda

Consent agenda highlights:

  • Agreement between CCSD and Alexander Dawson Foundation to provide a summer program and year-long mentorship for students.
  • Authorization to apply for the Indian Education Program, to provide American Indian and Alaska Native students with the opportunity to meet the same challenging state standards as all other students.

Click here to see the full consent agenda.

Trustees Approved Removing the E-2: Student Learning Governance Policy

The E-2: Student Learning policy relates to identifying strategies to improve student learning. This policy is being removed because the active Focus 2024 strategic plan addresses this.

Click here to see an overview of the policy.

Click here to see more details about the policy.

Trustees Heard a Presentation on the CCSD Balanced Assessment System

The Balanced Assessment System Framework outlines both formative assessments (that take place during learning) and summative assessments to measure learning over time.

Next school year, CCSD will be implementing the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) MAP to measure growth of students in grades Kinder-9th in math, reading, and science. NWEA MAP is a nationally-normed growth assessment that measures what students know and informs what they’re ready to learn next.

Training  will be provided to educators to support the implementation of the MAP Growth Assessment.

The NWEA MAP assessment is also available in Spanish, which will be piloted next school year. There are also discussions underway to make the SAT assessment available in Spanish.

Click here to see the presentation.

Trustees Heard Legislative Updates

Trustees heard the following updates on legislation that CCSD is tracking:

  • CCSD Budget: Superintendent Jara has been in conversations with Governor Sisolak and Speaker Frierson about CCSD, the Governor’s office, and legislative leadership working in partnership.
  • Funding formula: Superintendent Jara expressed being encouraged by the work led by Senator Denis and Senator Woodhouse on the funding formula. The Governor’s office is seeking revenue sources across all agencies that can be reallocated to support education.
  • Fingerprinting (SB 185): This bill specifies that only the volunteers who will be unsupervised with students at schools are required to be fingerprinted.

Trustees Approved School Facility Name Changes

Trustees approved each of  the following name change requests:

  • Claude & Stella Parson Elementary School changed to Claude H. and Stella M. Parson
  • The 200s Hall at Lied STEM Academy changed to The Builder’s Hall by Nevada’s Contractors
  • The Library at Shelley Berkley Elementary School was named The George Levine Memorial Library

Trustees Discussed Updates to the School Naming Policy

Trustees discussed proposed updates to the school naming policy, including revised language around what could trigger the renaming of a school. Updates will also allow name change requests by elementary and middle schools whose names include a geographic reference or a historical figure.

Trustees provided feedback on the proposed policy that will be incorporated to the policy and brought back to the board for approval

Click here to see the policy (updates are on page 5).

Trustee Reports

Trustees reported on committee meetings, events, or activities they have attended since the last regular Board meeting:

  • Attended Vegas PBS’ interactive education tech experience at the Las Vegas Science & Technology Festival. Vegas PBS is also hosting a tech workshop on May 18th, and a job application assistance fair on May 24th for families.
  • Shared updates on the Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Enrichment program, which has received positive feedback from staff and inmates.
  • Congratulated new speech language pathologists and teachers who graduated from Nevada State College.
  • Held community meeting to discuss bullying and racism issues at schools.
  • Attended Do the Write Thing program event, which had around 32 student participants.

Board and Superintendent Communication

Superintendent Jara acknowledged community and business partners for participating in Teacher Appreciation Week and commending CCSD teachers.

Potential Future Agenda Items:

  • Updates on Reclaim Your Future program
  • Presentation on Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Enrichment program
  • Request for information on the Legacy Project and the bond oversight process

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Nevada Ed Watch 4/25/19

Posted on by Opportunity 180

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, April 25, 2019

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 provided testimony to Trustees regarding:

  • Request for support of infrastructure improvements at the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts.
  • Concerns about the CCSD budget and request for more public input.
  • Concerns about student proficiency levels in reading and writing.
  • Advocacy for more funding for schools.
  • Concerns about overcrowding in classrooms and pay rates for teachers and support staff.
  • Concerns about replacing the vacant positions of CCSD staff who have retired.
  • Concerns about achievement gaps, disproportionate disciplinary action, and implicit racial bias district-wide.
  • Teachers at Decker Elementary provided testimony opposing the nonrenewal of their contracts. They shared concerns about school leadership, school culture, and lack of professional development opportunities. It was noted that Trustees do not have the ability to overrule nonrenewal decisions. Click here to read about this in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Trustees Unanimously Approve the Consent Agenda

Consent Agenda Highlights:

  • Application for a NoVo Foundation Innovation in Social and Emotional Learning Grant to continue to partner with community-based organizations to help students foster socio-emotional skills through creative expression.
  • Nonrenewal of probationary unified contracts and licensed contracts
  • Nevada Department of Transportation funded a four-year project to supplement the School-Community Partnership Program Office’s existing Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program, which focuses on educating students and parents on pedestrian safety while encouraging more students to bicycle to and from school.

Trustees Hear Updates from the Student School Board Advisory Committee

At the last Student Advisory Committee meeting on April 2nd, the following topics were discussed:

  • Teaching and learning reorganizing
  • CCSD’s legislative priorities and how students can engage in the legislative process
  • College and career readiness for high school students

Applications for new student Board members will be available to principals in May. Students interested in being on the Board can pick up applications from their school offices.

Trustees Unanimously Approve Revisions to the Sex Education Advisory Committee By-Laws

The revisions were related to the composition of the Recommending Committee. Each Trustee will now appoint one member to the Committee, and one non-voting liaison from the Curriculum and Professional Development division (recommended by the Superintendent). The Recommending Committee will then select the members of the Sex Education Advisory Committee.

Trustees Unanimously Approve a Chief of Facilities Employment Agreement

David P. McKinnis is the new Chief of Facilities for the District, beginning May 29th. Click here to see the employment agreement.

Trustees Heard an Update on the Qualitative Budget Forecast

CCSD’s Chief Finance Officer reported that the ending fund balance is still as projected at the beginning of the year.

Click here to see the presentation.

Potential Future Agenda Items

  • Address teacher concerns related to school and district culture
  • Information about Nevada Early Childhood Advisory Council’s On Strategy program, which could include a real-time dashboard to track goals outlined in CCSD’s strategic plan (Focus 2024)
  • Update on the Florence McClure educational program
  • Discuss potential modifications to dress code policies
  • Discuss potential marketing revenue opportunities (advertising and sponsorships)
  • A presentation on CCSD’s existing digital marketing platforms, and opportunities to leverage those platforms to promote additional support for schools.

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