North Star News (NSN) conecta a familias, padres, tutores y miembros de la comunidad con información sobre la educación del estado de Nevada.
Interactuar con la Escuela de su Estudiante
Nos complace compartir una lista de preguntas para ayudar a las familias a participar en conversación con las escuela de sus hijos. Puede utilizar estas preguntas como guía para iniciar conversaciones.
Hay muchas maneras de aprender acerca de las escuelas. Puede ver los datos de la escuela, leer información en línea y hablar con otras familias. Otra forma de aprender más sobre una escuela es establecer relaciones con los maestros, directores, y personal.
Las familias y las escuelas son socios importantes para ayudar a los estudiantes a tener éxito. Ya sea que su estudiante se inscriba a una nueva escuela este otoño o permanezca en su escuela actual, cualquier momento es bueno para hacer preguntas profundas. Esperamos que esta guía les ayude a tener conversaciones significativas con su equipo escolar.
Estamos destacando varias oportunidades para: involucrar, honrar, y apoyar a los estudiantes y sus familias en nuestra comunidad.
Becas para Estudiantes en su Último Año de Secundaria: Hay varias oportunidades de becas disponibles para estudiantes de último año de secundaria a través de PEF Plus. El último día para aplicar es el 31 de enero del 2023.
Oportunidad de Becas: Code Switch ofrece el Overachievers’ Fund para estudiantes de color con antecedentes de bajos ingresos y en grados K-12. Los fondos de la beca (de hasta $500) se pueden usar para solicitudes universitarias, cuotas deportivas, materiales escolares y otros artículos.
Recursos Educativos: Newspapers in Education proporciona recursos educativos gratuitos para todos los grados proporcionados por Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Concurso de Video: El Clark County Children’s Mental Health Consortium (CCCMHC) está organizando un concurso de video para jóvenes para promover la Semana de Aceptación de la Salud Mental Infantil: del 7 al 13 de mayo de 2023. El último día para enviar su video es el 24 de febrero de 2023.
Cursos de Cocina Gratis en febrero: Las familias con niños pequeños aprenderán a preparar recetas saludables. Los participantes también recibirán materiales gratuitos como: una tabla de cortar, un libro de cocina, cucharas para medir y más.Talleres: CCSD Family Academy ofrecerá sesiones de aprendizaje para adultos y familias el 25 de febrero de 2023.
Talleres: CCSD Family Academy ofrecerá sesiones de aprendizaje para adultos y familias el 25 de febrero de 2023.
¡Manténgase al día con las juntas escolares locales!
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Reserve la fecha para asistir o acceder a una próxima reunión en línea o en persona:
¿Tiene preguntas, comentarios o solicitudes de temas para destacar en el boletín? Simplemente responda a este correo electrónico para comunicarse con nosotros. ¿Conoce a alguien a quien le gustaría obtener más información sobre la educación en Nevada? Le invitamos a compartir este boletín con las personas de su red.
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.
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).
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.
Friday, February 18, 2022
Clark County School District Board of Trustees Special Meeting
Trustees Approved a Request for School Safety Agenda Item (4-3)
Three Trustees brought forth an agenda item request for an upcoming CCSD board meeting regarding school safety.
The agenda item, for the March 10, 2022 board meeting, will be an informational item to include an overview and briefing on historical data and information on current policies in place regarding school safety, and will include a brief presentation by CCSD staff on those policies. Reference materials will include data from a recent Freedom of Information Act request from a local news entity, as well as the number of violent incidents at CCSD in the last month.
The Trustees also discussed reconvening to review additional possible community engagement opportunities regarding the topic of school safety.
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.
How often does the Board of Trustees meet? Trustees meet twice per month (second and fourth Thursdays) at 5 pm. While all meetings are typically held at the Edward A. Greer Education Center (Board Room): 2832 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, NV 89121, all meetings are now held virtually due to the COVID-19 crisis.
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, December 15, 2020
Clark County School District Board of Trustees Meeting
Members of the public submitted comments online. Public comment was not read directly into the record, rather an oral summary of each comment was provided to Trustees.
Click here & here to view public comment on agenda and non-agenda items.
Board Approved Summative Evaluation of the Superintendent of Schools
The purpose of the Summative Evaluation process is to develop a single Superintendent Evaluation that combines and synthesizes the individual evaluations each Trustee conducted for the Superintendent. The evaluation process was facilitated by Dr. Thomas Alsbury, founder and president of Balanced Governance Solutions.
Prior to the summative evaluation, the Board’s seven Trustees completed individual evaluations of Superintendent Jara for 2020. This is the Superintendent’s second evaluation following the first evaluation in December 2019.
Growth Suggestions provided in the Trustees’ evaluations of the Superintendent were compiled and anonymously recorded in a rating sheet. Trustees rated each Growth Suggestion and returned the document to Dr. Alsbury on December 14. All Growth Suggestions scoring an average rating of 3 (Agree) or 4 (Strongly Agree) were compiled into a summative evaluation draft by Dr. Alsbury who also combined identical or similar suggestions, when possible, to avoid repetition. The draft was sent back to Trustees on December 14. At the December 15 meeting, Trustees discussed the summative evaluation draft to determine which Growth Suggestions to include in the final Superintendent Evaluation document.
Click here to view the summative evaluation process.
Trustees also discussed the ratings from the Superintendent’s evaluation. Trustees used an evaluation tool that included nine indicators under four areas of focus, rating the Superintendent in each indicator on a scale of 1 to 4. The categories represent the focus areas agreed upon by the Board of Trustees and the Superintendent for the 2020 evaluation year.
Rating scale:
1 = Did not meet the standard. 2 = Inconsistently met the standard or the standard was met with frequent and avoidable errors. 3 = Consistently met the standard with minimal errors. 4 = Consistently met the standard.
Superintendent Average Performance Ratings by Indicator:
Effective Operational Oversight
1A: Major changes to Organizational Structure – Total Average rating: 2.2
1B: Focus on Student Success & Equity – Total Average rating: 2.1
1C: Major Financial Issues – Total Average Rating = 3.2
Effective Progress Monitoring & Reporting
2A: Report Progress to Trustees – Total Average Rating = 2.9
Effective Communication
3A: Communicates Effectively with Trustees – Total Average Rating = 2.4
3B: Communicates Effectively with Broader Community – Total Average Rating = 2.3
3C: Communicates Effectively with Internal staff – Total Average Rating = 2.0
Effective Collaborative Leadership:
4A: Models Community Inclusion – Total Average Rating = 2.6
4B: Promote a Collaborative Culture – Total Average Rating = 2.1
Trustees unanimously approved a motion for Dr. Alsbury to merge Growth Suggestions using feedback from Trustees to complete and finalize the Superintendent’s evaluation. The final Superintendent Evaluation, to include the merged Growth Suggestions along with ratings, is anticipated to be completed this week.
Click here to see Superintendent Jara’s self-evaluation. Click here to see the summary rating scores from Trustee evaluations. Click here to see submitted evidence for each focus area. Click here to read more about this in The Nevada Independent.
Sign up to receive a notification when a new Ed-Watch post is published:
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.
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.
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
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.
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:
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
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
Sign up to receive a notification when a new Ed-Watch post is published:
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.
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.
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, February 13, 2020
Clark County School District Board of Trustees Meeting
Concerns about honoring the rights of School Organization Team (SOT) members, and a report that 49% of SOT members are unsatisfied, according to climate survey responses
A member of the public provided testimony to Trustees regarding barriers to obtaining teacher licensure.
Trustees Heard Updates on CCSD’s MAP Growth Assessment Results
NWEA MAP Growth is a formative assessment administered across all CCSD elementary and middle schools to measure student academic growth over time. A student’s MAP data can follow them to their feeder school or to other schools within CCSD they transfer to. MAP measures a student’s growth in comparison to similar peers, and is designed to help teachers identify instructional areas students are ready to tackle—whether they are on, above, or below grade level.
The District is working with principals to phase other, less comprehensive formative assessments out of its Balanced Assessment model.
CCSD MAP Growth Assessment Results:
There were questions among Trustees about the validity of the MAP Assessment, and how it differs from the Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBAC)– which measures student proficiency.
Trustees Heard Updates About Student Achievement at CCSD Innovative Middle Schools
Trustees heard from principals at schools designated as Innovative Schools. Principals shared their strategies to improve student achievement, as well as their MAP Growth Assessment data for Math, English Language Arts, and Science. It was noted by principals that MAP data provides important information about how quickly students are growing towards proficiency.
Click here to see each school’s 2019-2020 Academic Plan– including detailed MAP assessment results and strategies to reduce achievement gaps among students.
Innovative Schools Strategy Highlights:
Initiation of state standards training to ensure instruction is delivered at the appropriate grade level
Development of teacher grading calibration training for reading and writing assessments
Implementation of tiered interventions for students who need intensive academic supports
Implementation of block scheduling for Math and English Language Arts
Implementation of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS)
Implementation of instructional rounds
Incorporation of families and students in academic goal setting
Trustees shared their appreciation for the principals’ focus on improving student achievement in high-need schools. Trustees also discussed the importance of social-emotional support, teacher incentives, and family engagement.
Click on an Innovative School below to see its school performance profile from the 2018-2019 school year:
West Prep Middle School (Preparatory Institute, School for Academy Excellence at Charles I. West Hall)
Superintendent Communications Superintendent Jara provided an update that the CCSD Equity Report Blue Ribbon Commission is currently under development. Additionally, Superintendent Jara announced that a similar commission will be launched to study issues related to teacher vacancies, substitute teachers, and long-term substitutes.
Requests for Future Agenda Items
Review policies for support animals in schools
Request that Trustees are informed of CCSD partnership events occurring in their districts
Sign up to receive a notification when a new Ed-Watch post is published:
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.
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.
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, January 23, 2020
Clark County School District Board of Trustees Meeting
Members of the public provided testimony to Trustees regarding:
The value of school counselors and school psychologists in student and family success.
Concerns that some CCSD employees will not be paid according to schedule because of an issue with the payroll system.
Concerns about substitute teacher pay.
Support for the Acceleration Academy Program.
CCSD Chief Financial Officer Provided an Update on Employee Pay
Due to an implementation error, some CCSD employees will not receive their scheduled pay for prep buyouts and additional duties such as night school. HCM, IT, and Payroll teams are working to resolve the issue and recommended that CCSD employees call the payroll department if they are affected.
Consent Agenda Highlights:
Agreement between The Elementary Fine Arts Department of the Curriculum and Professional Development Division and the Nevada School of the Arts (NSA) to develop guiding principles for the operation of the NSA Chorale.
Two settlements between the Clark County School District and anonymous parties that total $1.8 million.
Trustees Appoint a New Member to the Sex Education Advisory Committee
Maggie Cox (District A) was appointed to serve as a new member of the Sex Education Advisory Committee. The purpose of the committee is to make recommendations to the Board regarding content and materials that are contained in sex education units.
Click here to see the Request for Appointment Approval and the committee bylaws.
Trustees Heard Updates on the Implementation of Internal Control Examination Report Findings
CCSD Chief Financial Officer provided status updates on progress made towards addressing observations identified in the Internal Controls Examination Report performed by Eide Bailly.
Updates include:
A new district policy related to fraud, and a confidential hotline to report fraud.
New policies related to the use of district vehicles.
The development of policies for controls around school generated cash funds.
Recognition to Nevada State College for the groundbreaking of the Glenn and Ande Christensen School of Education Building
Announcement that the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association’s Board of Control approved a new 5A sports division.
Recognition by the Henderson City Council of Liberty High School as state football champions.
Trustees Wright and Young volunteered to be judges for the Annual Susan Brager Scholarship.
Superintendent Communications
The district hired a new Chief Information Officer, Greg Holopof
Dr. Malich is transitioning out of the district to pursue a role with the City of Las Vegas.
The Student Equity and Access Committee released a report with recommended focus areas to achieve equity and access in the Clark County School District. A Blue Ribbon Commission will be formed to continue this work.
Requests for Future Agenda Items
There were no requests for agenda items during this meeting.
Sign up to receive a notification when a new Ed-Watch post is published:
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.
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.
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, January 9, 2020
Clark County School District Board of Trustees Meeting
Members of the public provided testimony to Trustees regarding:
Concerns about benefits for substitute teachers
Concerns about a lack of diversity in school leadership
Concerns about public education funding
Concerns about school staffing regulations
Trustees Heard a Presentation on Focus 2024 Student Success Measures
The board heard a presentation on progress towards the student success goals outlined in the Focus 2024 Plan (summarized below).
Student Success Objective: Increase the four-year high school graduation rate.
The District met its four-year high school graduation rate goal of 84.3% (2018-2019), with an actual graduation rate of 85.2%.
Student Success Objective: Decrease student achievement gaps in the four-year high school graduation rate while increasing the graduation rate for all subgroups.
The District did not meet its goal. The proficiency gap between the highest- and lowest performing subgroups increased by 2.5% in 2018-2019.
Additionally, for American Indian/Alaska Native students, students with Limited English Proficiency, and students on Individualized Education Programs (special education), 2018-2019 graduation rates decreased.
Trustees requested more information about the breakdown of the district’s student population. Trustees discussed continuing to work with the state for collecting accurate data in a timely manner.
Click here to see student success indicators by subgroup.
Click here to see this portion of the Focus 2024 plan.
Trustees Approved the Naming of Tyrone Thompson Elementary School
The School Name Committee recognized the late Assemblyman Tyrone Thompson’s contributions to education in Clark County, and recommended him as a school namesake for the Clark County School District.
Trustees participated in Principal for a Day, Sun Youth Forum, and the Middle School Honor Choir Concert.
Superintendent Communications
Rancho High School received a grant from the NFL & Raiders of $250K for a turf field.
The district is negotiating with the Clark County Education Association (CCEA) and the Nevada State Education Association (NSEA) regarding filing lawsuits against individual school principals in response to staffing decisions.
Strategic budgets are being released to school principals on January 15.
Requests for Future Agenda Items:
Information about protocol principals follow for master scheduling
Review of the Community Engagement Policy for schools (Policy 1140)
Data on graduation rates among English Language Learners
Updates on the English Language Learner Master plan
A list of district principals broken out by race and ethnicity
Teacher and staff retention rates for each school
Sign up to receive a notification when a new Ed-Watch post is published:
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.
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.
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, December 12, 2019
Clark County School District Board of Trustees Meeting
Members of the public provided testimony to Trustees regarding:
Support for the current principal at Bracken Elementary
Concerns about the current principal at Bracken Elementary
Concerns about the reallocation of Title II funds from the AVID college readiness program to educator professional development
Concerns about recent events at Canyon Springs High School
Concerns about how the Superintendent’s performance evaluation was conducted
Trustees Heard Presentations on Focus 2024 Student Success and Teachers, Principals, and Staff Goals
The board heard a presentation about progress towards the remediation, career and technical education, and International Baccalaureate goals outlined in the Focus 2024 Plan (summarized below).
Student Success Priority Area 3: Increase access and equity to rigorous curriculum and instruction for all students.
Teachers, Principals, and Staff Priority Area 1: Ensure all students have access to highly effective teachers, administrators, and school staff
Trustees Approved a Professional Service Agreement with Teach For America Las Vegas (5-1)
Teach For America Las Vegas (TFA) contracts with CCSD to provide 100 teachers per year to high-need schools within the district. Trustees discussed the need to prioritize recruitment and retention of all teachers in the district.
Trustees Adopted the 2019-2020 Amended Final Budget
Amended Budget Highlights:
87% of the CCSD budget is dedicated to employee salaries and benefits
Student enrollment decreased in the 2019-2020 school year, and it is anticipated that student enrollment will continue to decrease in the 2020-2021 school year
Regulation 3110 requires the District to have a 2% unassigned ending fund balance. CCSD has an ending fund balance of 1.75% for 2019, and anticipates a 2% ending fund balance for 2020. This will be the first time CCSD is in compliance with this regulation in over 10 years.
There was an increase of $81 per pupil in the Distributive Schools Account (DSA) for 2019 and there will be an additional increase of $286 per pupil for 2020 school year.
Total 2019 per pupil revenue was $7,384, and 2020 total per pupil revenue will be $7,712.
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.
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.
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, December 5, 2019
Clark County School District Board of Trustees Meeting
Members of the public provided testimony to Trustees regarding:
Concerns about leadership and culture at Clark High School
Concerns about inadequate services for students on Individualized Education Plans (IEPs)
Trustees Unanimously Approve the Superintendent’s Evaluation
Members of the public provided testimony to Trustees regarding:
Support of a positive evaluation for Superintendent Jara
Concerns that the Superintendent’s evaluation does not adequately measure the progress of CCSD
Concerns that the Board of Trustees is not focused on student achievement
Trustees conducted a performance evaluation of Superintendent Jara’s first 18 months with school district. This is the first time a CCSD Superintendent evaluation has occurred in six years.
Prior to the meeting, trustees completed individual evaluations of the Superintendent. Individual trustee evaluations were compiled into one comprehensive summary evaluation, which included rationale for the rating and recommendations for growth. For each evaluation category, the Superintendent was rated on a scale of 1-4. Trustees reviewed and discussed ratings under each evaluation category until a consensus was reached.
Superintendent Performance Ratings:
Vision (maintaining focus on the District’s Vision): 3.25 out of 4
Student Success Targets (creation of student success targets, maintaining focus on student success, and monitoring results): 3.39 out of 4
Core Values(promoting a culture aligned to established core values): 2.58 out of 4
Theory of Action (adhering to established Theory of Action): 2.39 out of 4
Click here to see Superintendent Jara’s Self Evaluation.
Click here to see a summary of Trustee Evaluations.
Click here to read about this in The Nevada Independent.
Click here to read about this in The Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Trustees Submitted their Individual Evaluations of the Board of Trustees
In addition to evaluating the Superintendent, prior to the meeting, trustees completed individual evaluations of the Board of Trustees performance. Individual trustee evaluations were compiled into one comprehensive summary evaluation.
Trustees will conduct and in-depth review of the board evaluation summary during a board meeting in January.
Click here to see the Trustees self-evaluation summary.
Requests for Future Agenda Items:
Updates to Trustee briefing policies
Sign up to receive a notification when a new Ed-Watch post is published:
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.
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.
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, November 14, 2019
Clark County School District Board of Trustees Meeting
Trustees Heard a Presentation on Focus 2024 Student Success Measures
The board heard a presentation on progress made towards student success goals outlined in the Focus 2024 Plan (summarized below). The priority areas include student achievement, closing achievement gaps between student sub-groups, and chronic absenteeism.
Click here to see this portion of the Focus 2024 plan.
Presentation Summary:
Student Success Priority Area 1: Increase student achievement in English language arts, mathematics, and science.
Priority Area 2: Decrease student proficiency gaps in ELA, mathematics, and science
Priority Area 3: Increase access and equity to rigorous curriculum and instruction for all students.
Increase and diversify student enrollment and achievement in advanced coursework in all subgroups at the district level and at each middle and high school
Enrollment in dual-credit classrooms:
January 2019 Baseline: 2,753 students
2019-2020 Actual: 4.409 students
2019-2020 Goal: 3,028 students
Average variance between subpopulation enrollment rates in dual-credit classrooms and subpopulation enrollment rates in CCSD:
2018-2019 Baseline: 6.25 percentage points
2019-2020 Actual: 5.91 percentage points
Enrollment in Advanced Placement (AP) classrooms:
January 2019 Baseline: 13,955 students
2019-2020 Actual: 13,759 students
2019-2020 Goal: 14,653 students
Average variance between subpopulation enrollment rates in AP classrooms and subpopulation enrollment rates in CCSD:
January 2019 Baseline: 4.97 percentage points
2019-2020 Actual: 4.3 percentage points
AP tests taken as a percentage of AP enrollments:
2018-2019 Baseline: 78%
2019-2020 Actual: 74.1%
Algebra I and Geometry participation in middle school:
2018-2019 Baseline: 6,834 students
2019-2020 Actual: 7,197 students
2019-2020 Goal: 7,381 students
Students scoring greater than a 3 on the summative AP exam in all subgroups:
2018-2019 Baseline: 12,202 students
2019-2020 Actual:12,333 students
2019-2020 Goal: 12,812 students
Priority Area 4: Ensure students and staff are safe students are engaged at school.
Decrease chronic absenteeism and chronic absenteeism gaps
Chronic absenteeism rate:
2017-2018 Baseline: 20.7%
2018-2019 Actual: 21.9%
2018-2019 Goal: 19.7%
Gap between the highest and lowest subgroups in chronic absenteeism:
2017-2018 Baseline: 23.1 percentage points
2018-2019 Actual: 24.1 percentage points
2018-2019 Goal: 17.6 percentage points
Trustees Approved Policy Updates
The board approved updates to the following policies:
Trustees Approved the Naming of the Cheyenne High School Baseball Field
Cheyenne High School baseball field is now named The Chad W. Parque Memorial Baseball Field. Detective Parque is a fallen member of North Las Vegas Police, a Cheyenne High School graduate, and a mentor for students at Cheyenne High School.
Trustees Approved Updates to the Capital Improvement Plan (5-2)
Trustees approved updates to the 2015 Capital Improvement Plan. The CCSD Facilities Service Unit stated that district schools need significant building improvements. To address all these needs, the district would need approximately $2 billion. Trustees discussed the most appropriate use of buildings, as well as concerns about overcrowding.
The approved updates to the Capital Improvement Plan were:
Construct a new building addition at Gragson Elementary School.
Construct a new building addition at Petersen Elementary School.
Remove classroom additions and reallocate funds to Comprehensive Renovation Program.
Remove Comprehensive High School and High School additions. Build two new Career and Technical Academies.
Recommend to increase budget from $10 Million to $30.5 Million and to construct a new school (Global Community High School) at Maryland Parkway and Oakley Boulevard.
Recommend to increase Sandy Valley budget from $10.7 Million to $32 Million.
Recommend to approve additional positions as recommended by staff to execute the Capital Improvement Program.
Following site visits and a review of data, the Facilities Division will present the Strategic Comprehensive Renovation Program to the Bond Oversight Committee on December 19, 2019. The Division is requesting an additional 12 staff members to implement the improvement project.
Members of the public provided comment about adding a Career and Technical Academy in North Las Vegas, plus expressing support for a new building for Global Community High School.
Trustees Approved the Contract for School Administrators & Professional Technical Employees
The contract extends the negotiated agreement between the Clark County School District and the Clark County Association of School Administrators and Professional Technical Employees through 2021.
Major updates to the contract include:
3% raise for all employees covered under this contract
4% increase in insurance coverage
Step increases
Procedures for extended leave
Revisions to banked hours
Non-substantive date and language updates to align to CCSD policies
