Tag: facilities

Nevada Ed-Watch 11/20/20

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 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. 

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, November 19, 2020

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 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 to view public comment on agenda items.
  • Click here to view public comment on non-agenda items.  

Trustees Honored Yvette Wintermute

Trustees paused for a moment of silence to honor Yvette Wintermute, who recently passed away. Yvette Wintermute served as Chief Nurse of Health Services for CCSD. 

Trustees Approved Consent Agenda 

Highlights: 

Trustees Approved Application for Impact Aid Section 7003

The US Department of Education provides Impact Aid 7003 funds to school districts in order to reimburse costs associated with educating federally-connected children. Federally connected children are: 

  • children of members of the uniformed services,
  • children who reside on Indian lands,
  • children who reside on federal property or federally subsidized low-rent housing, and
  • children whose parents work on federal property.

Property taxes are a main source of revenue for the school district. These funds reimburse the financial impact due to the presence of federally-connected children residing on, or whose parents are employed on, non-taxable federal property. 

As these funds would directly support CCSD students who reside on Indian Land, the board also held a public hearing on the review of the American Indian/Alaska Native Policies and Procedures for Federal Impact Aid 7003.  No public comment was submitted. 

Click here to view the reference material. 

Click here to view the American Indian/Alaska Native Policies and Procedures.

Trustees Approved Notice of Intent for District Policy

CCSD Policy 6161, School Libraries currently states, “The Clark County School District recognizes that an effective library is an important and integral part of the educational program in each school, and the Clark County School District will provide adequate school libraries.”

The updated policy includes language that will ensure schools have a licensed teacher-librarian. Since licensed teacher-librarians are funded through school strategic budgets, some trustees had concerns about requiring schools to provide licensed teacher-librarians. 

 This policy will come back before the Board for final approval on December 10. 

Click here to see the draft policy.  

Trustees Approved Notice of Intent for District Regulation 

Regulation 3241, Acceptance of Gifts, outlines the acceptable use of monetary or in-kind gifts to the district or schools. The updated  language includes a clarification that gifts must be used for their specified purpose to the extent possible.

The Trustees will revisit the regulation for approval during the December 10 meeting.

Click here to see the draft regulation. 

Superintendent’s Report 

Superintendent Jara and CCSD Chief Financial Officer, Jason Goudie, provided information to Trustees about the staffing and fiscal impact of continuing distance learning through the end of the school year. Several positions of employment are connected to the physical presence of students at school buildings and are deemed redundant if students continue with distance learning through the rest of the year. Recommendations for staffing changes if CCSD continues with distance learning through the end of the school year include:

  • Facilities Management: Surplus half of custodial staff, approximately 700 positions. 
  • Transportation: Surplus all General Fund 100 support professionals. Suspend driver hiring and training and return underutilized and vacant full-time equivalent (FTE) and funds, which includes approximately 650 employees.
  • Police: Reduce the number of police positions, which includes approximately 30 police positions.

Click here to view additional information. 

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Nevada Ed-Watch

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, November 14, 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:

  • Concerns about the new collective bargaining contract for support staff
  • The need for mental health services for students, and a taskforce to reduce student-to-school psychologist ratio
  • Support for School Organizational Teams (SOTs)
  • The need for more black male CCSD principals

Trustees Approved the Consent Agenda

Consent Agenda highlights:

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 a data summary.

Click here to see the presentation.

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. 

Click here to learn more.

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:

  1. Construct a new building addition at Gragson Elementary School.
  2. Construct a new building addition at Petersen Elementary School.
  3. Remove classroom additions and reallocate funds to Comprehensive Renovation Program.
  4. Remove Comprehensive High School and High School additions. Build two new Career and Technical Academies.
  5. 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.
  6. Recommend to increase Sandy Valley budget from $10.7 Million to $32 Million.
  7. 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.

Click here to see the Capital Improvement Plan.

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

Click here to see the contract.

Trustees Approved a Notice of Intent to Update District Regulations

The following regulations will be presented to the board for final approval at the December 12th board meeting:

Trustee Reports:

Trustees participated in Principal for a Day,  Sun Youth Forum, and a middle school Honor Choir concert. 

Requests for Future Agenda Items:

  • A presentation on professional development programs
  • Review and possible revision of policies related to school libraries and instructional materials

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Nevada Ed Watch 10/17/19

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, October 17, 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:

  • Concerns about substitute teacher shortages
  • Teachers, staff, and parents at Global Community High School expressed concerns about a lack of updates regarding a new school facility
  • Gratitude for Trustees and CCSD staff for addressing support staff concerns at previous board meetings in a timely manner

Trustees Approved the Consent Agenda

Consent Agenda highlights:

  • Contract with Columbus Education Services for school psychology services
  • Fees for taking the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Exam and Advanced Placement (AP) tests to be covered by CCSD

Trustees Heard a Presentation about the 2018-2019 Nevada Educator Performance Framework (NEPF)

The annual performance of teachers and school administrators is measured by the Nevada Educator Performance Framework. Performance is measured against the three (3) categories listed below, varying by “weight,” or how much a categories will impact the overall rating. 

  • Instructional Practice Standards and Indicators
    • 2018-2019 weight: 45%
    • Updated 2019-2020 weight: 65%
  • Professional Responsibilities Standards and Indicators
    • 2018-2019 weight: 15%
    • Updated 2019-2020 weight: 20%
  • Student Performance
    • 2018-2019 weight: 40%
    • Updated 2019-2020 weight: 15%

Based on total scores in the above categories, teachers and school administrators are ranked overall as:

  • Highly Effective
  • Effective
  • Developing
  • Ineffective

Teachers and school administrators that have already received a rating of Highly Effective for the two previous consecutive years are exempt from evaluation (in accordance with NRS 391.690).

Teacher 2018-2019 NEPF Results

  • Exempt: 1% (209)
  • Highly Effective: 15%  (2,330)
  • Effective: 82% (12,380)
  • Developing: >1% (141)
  • Ineffective: >1% (24)

School Administrator 2018-2019 NEPF Results

  • Exempt: 2% (21)
  • Highly Effective: 23% (205)
  • Effective: 75% (684)
  • Developing: 0% (0)
  • Ineffective: 0% (0)

Trustees and the Superintendent discussed shifting towards a growth mindset to ensure the NEPF is an effective tool for teacher and school administrator development.

Click here to see the presentation.

Trustees Approved Funding School Building Improvements

Funds approved to go towards school building improvements totaled $112 million, which has no impact on the CCSD operating budget.

The funds will be used to address the following at schools:

  • Playground equipment and safety surface replacements (PESSR)
  • Carpet and flooring replacements
  • Field turf replacements and ancillary field equipment upgrades, such as field lighting improvement projects for energy efficiency savings
  • Asphalt replacements
  • Rooftop heating, ventilation, and air conditioning unit replacements (HVAC)
  • Emergency Management System upgrades

Trustees requested information about which schools are receiving improvements, and in which order.

Trustees Approved Updates to the Food Service Policy

Click here to see the updated policy.

Trustees Approved Updates to the School Naming Policy (4-1)

The new policy addresses the renaming of schools under special circumstances.

Click here to see the updated policy.

Trustees Adopted a New Process for Evaluating the Superintendent

Overview of the process for evaluating the Superintendent: 

  • Superintendent completes a self-evaluation
  • Each Trustee holds an individual meeting with the Superintendent and completes an evaluation.
    • Trustees are not permitted to discuss or share their evaluation notes with one another.
    • Individual Trustee’s preliminary evaluation notes will be shared with the Superintendent and other Trustees at the same time that it is released to the public.
    • Each Trustee has the right to change their evaluation notes based on discussion and input from constituents. 
  • Trustees will discuss the Superintendent’s evaluation at the December 5th board meeting. The Board of Trustees will complete a self-evaluation at this meeting.

Click here to see the Superintendent Evaluation policy.

Click here to see the Board Evaluation policy. 

Trustee reports:

  • Trustees have the opportunity to complete additional credits for their mandatory Professional Development hours at an upcoming National Association of School Boards (NASB) meeting in November.
  • Trustee Young announced that the Las Vegas Book Festival is on Saturday, October 19th from 9am-6pm.
  • Trustees are conducting the Community Linkage Meeting on November 4th or 6th, which is an annual meeting with Native American Community– at the Las Vegas Paiute Reservation.
  • Evaluation of the Superintendent will take place at the December 5th board meeting
  • January 24th is the Board Retreat. Trustees will discuss improving the Superintendent evaluation process and finalizing 2020 evaluation metrics.

Requests for Future Agenda Items:

  • Race and ethnicity breakdowns among CCSD teachers, administrators, and staff 
  • Discussion about the magnet school eligibility expansion and student recruitment, specifically for elementary students going into middle school magnet programs
  • Protocol for terminating or demoting staff
  • Process for becoming a substitute teacher
  • Update on what local higher education institutions are doing to contribute to addressing teacher shortages
  • Review of policies for service and emotional support animals in schools

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Nevada Ed-Watch 9/26/19

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, September 26, 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:

  • Concerns about students not getting enough physical activity, recess, and restroom breaks throughout the school day
  • Concerns about school safety and controlled access to school buildings
  • Appreciation for the district from a representative of the Education Support Employees Association (ESEA) for hearing support staff concerns while a Memorandum of Understanding was developed
  • Concerns about a student getting expelled for bringing foam toy nunchucks to school
  • Concerns about the process for hiring educators
  • Difficulty accessing pre-K for students who are not English Language Learners 
  • Concerns about a lack of training and professional development for support staff

Trustees Heard Updates on CCSD Focus 2024 Priorities

Below is a summary of the updates presented to Trustees related to the priorities of the CCSD strategic plan (Focus 2024).

Click here to see CCSD’s Focus 2024 online dashboard.

Teachers, Principals and Staff: Human Resources

  • Objective 1: Increase the percentage of licensed teachers in the classroom. 
    • Goal (2019-20): 100% 
    • Actual (2018-19): 95.4%
    • By 2024: 100%
  • Objective 2: Increase the number of qualified teachers recruited for the selection pool. 
    • Goal (2019-20): 3,649
    • Actual (2018-19): 3,098
    • By 2024: 3,649
  • Objective 3: Increase the percentage of Critical Labor Shortage support professionals hired and decrease the number of vacancies.
    • Goal (2019-20): 0
    • Actual (2018-19): 145
    • By 2024: 0

Click here to see the Human Resources presentation.

Members of the public provided testimony regarding funding for teacher pay and benefits to attract and retain teachers. Trustees discussed capturing teacher attrition data through an exit survey process. Trustees also discussed focusing on areas like school culture and professional development to support educator retention. 

Sound Fiscal Management: Out-of-Service Buses and Bus Driver Absenteeism

  • Objective 1: Reduce number of buses placed out-of-service to reduce service delays.
    • Goal (2019-20): 21%
    • Actual (2018-19): 19% 
    • By 2024: 3%
  • Objective 2: Reduce bus driver absenteeism to improve service to students and ensure full instructional minutes.
    • Goal (2019-20): 10%
    • Actual (2018-19): 14.3% 
    • By 2024: 8%

Click here to see the Bus Service & Driver Absenteeism presentation. 

Approaches to prevent chronic absenteeism of bus drivers included:

  • Recognizing employees quarterly for perfect attendance
  • Educating drivers and staff about how student achievement is impacted by their attendance.
  • To reduce driver absenteeism caused by health-related matters, the transportation department also implemented health and prevention initiatives, such as partnering with Medicine on the Move (over 118 transportation employees received treatment so far). 

Sound Fiscal Management: Purchasing

  • Objective 1: Decrease processing time, reduce costs, and increase the competitive procurement ratio. 
    • Goal (2019-20): 80%
    • Actual (2018-19): 91%
    • By 2024: 95%
  • Objective 2: Reduce requisition processing time by increasing SAP catalog utilization to 70% within the next five years.
    • Goal (2019-20): 60%
    • Actual (2018-19): 71%
    • By 2024: 70%

Click here to see the Purchasing presentation.

Trustees discussed direct, school-level purchasing versus centralized purchasing. Centralizing purchasing for the district tends to be more cost-effective.

Trustees Approved the Consent Agenda

Consent agenda highlights:

Trustees Heard a Presentation on the Eide Bailly Internal Controls Exam Report

A representative of Eide Bailly’s forensic department presented an overview of its report of CCSD’s Internal Controls examination. 

The primary examination method used was holding interviews with 409 CCSD employees within various business and finance units as well as some schools. 

Following the interviews, 13 recommendations were made for the district. 

Click here to see an executive summary outlining the 13 recommendations.

Click here to see the full report.

Trustees discussed staff training to ensure school-level compliance with updated policies and procedures. A request was made for Trustees to receive regular updates on each recommendation.

Trustees Heard a Presentation on Open Book Website

Open Book makes CCSD financial information easily accessible to the public. 

The Open Book website includes access to external audit results, the final budget of the fiscal year, and videos explaining topics related to the District’s finances. The site also has tools that show strategic budgets by school and accounts payable (payments to vendors).

There will be a Facebook Live video walk-through of Open Book on October 8th from 4:00-6:00 PM. 

Click here to see the presentation.

Click here to go to Open Book.

Trustees Approved a Memorandum of Agreement (MOU) Between CCSD and the Education Support Employees Association (ESEA)

One member of the public provided testimony in support of increased pay for support staff.

The agreement includes a 3% salary increase and a waiver for required fingerprinting costs.

The ESEA requested time to communicate the contract terms to the employees that will be impacted. Trustees approved the 2019-2021 MOU pending ratification. Once the ratification vote is made, it was requested that the pay increases be reflected in pay checks as soon as possible.

Click here to see the tentative agreement. 

Trustees Approved Changes to Food Service Programs Regulations

Trustees approved minor language updates to the Food Service Programs regulations. 

Click here to see the regulations.

Trustees Approved Changes to the School Facilities Naming Regulations (6-1 vote)

Trustees approved updates to the School Facilities Naming policy regulations. An eligible school that chooses to be renamed must conduct a survey of employees and families. At least 50% of the surveys must be returned, and greater than 50% of the surveys returned must agree to renaming the school.

Trustees approved the changes with a request for clarification that additional community input outside of the school community can be gathered for consideration, but will not be counted towards the 50% survey requirement. It was also requested to include examples of types of stakeholders that input could be gathered from. 

Click here to see the regulations.

Trustees Approved Changes to the 2021-2022 School Year Calendars for Students and Staff (5-2 vote)

The most significant change was related to how professional development is accounted for. Beginning in the 2016-2017 school year, schools were permitted to bank time for professional development in more flexible and frequent increments. Site-based collaboration was able to be banked and later utilized as time off during the week of Thanksgiving. This approach was approved by the Department of Education through the 2019-2020 school year. 

For the 2021-2022 school year, the Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week are now in-school days, and there are four days spread out throughout the year that are dedicated to professional development.

Members of the public expressed concerns about:

  • Student absenteeism the week of Thanksgiving due to travel schedules
  • Students and staff having the full week of Thanksgiving dedicated to spending time with families.
  • A disproportionate amount of work days being taken away from 9-month support staff. 

Contingency days were also set for March 9th, April 13th, and May 21st. 

The calendar was informed by a committee consisting of over 25 stakeholders including principals, counselors, and other staff from other departments such as transportation and HR.

Click here to see the draft calendar for students and staff.

Trustees Approved Renaming Lomie G. Heard Elementary School, A Marzano Academy, to Lomie G. Heard Elementary School

The name change was to remove the “Marzano Academy” component of the name, since the school’s contract with Marzano is no longer active. 

Trustee Reports:

  • Trustee Wright hosted a Facebook Live parent meeting as a way to be more accessible to parents who cannot attend meetings at set times in person. 
  • Trustee Young announced an upcoming Cultural Food Festival for families in partnership with Vegas PBS this Fall. Additionally, October 18-19th is the Las Vegas Book Festival.
  • Trustee Ford holds monthly parent meetings and live stream videos on topics such as navigating meeting agendas. 
  • Cepeda announced that FAFSA releases on October 1st. 
  • NABSA strategic planning Friday and Sat to discuss collaboration throughout the stat and advocating for common sense policies.
  • Trustee Brooks served on a panel for Opportunity 180 that also included Superintendents Ebert and Jara, J.T. McWilliams Principal Womack, Caryne Shea from HOPE for Nevada– to talk about what it would take to make some systemic changes to focus on student outcomes. 
  • Trustee Young expressed concerns about 3 school principals that were removed for not meeting student growth benchmarks. 

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Nevada Ed-Watch 8/8/19

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, August 8, 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:

  • Alleged bullying and harassment between employees
  • Concerns with the number of teacher vacancies 
  • Teacher salary increases
  • Concerns about changes to bus routes

Trustees Approved the Consent Agenda

Consent agenda highlights:

  • Facilities improvements
  • $100,000 settlement to the family of a teen that was shot at Canyon Springs High School
  • MOU with Fulfillment Fund to support students at Chaparral High School

Trustees Discussed Silver State Governance Training 

Silver State Governance (SSG) is an operating framework and coaching system that orients school board members to a framework that puts student achievement at the forefront of decision-making.

The Silver State Governance Accountability Framework is built around six research-inspired competencies that correlate with improvements in student outcomes: 

  1. Vision & Goals
  2. Values & Constraints
  3. Accountability & Monitoring
  4. Communication & Collaboration
  5. Unity & Trust
  6. Continuous Improvement

Trustees did not vote on this item, as it was changed to be discussion only. Trustees chose not to bring this topic back before the board as an action item.

Click here to see the Silver State Governance proposal.

Trustees Discussed Concerns with the Implementation of School Organizational Teams

To ensure they are conducting the appropriate level of oversight and fulfilling their fiduciary responsibilities, Trustees are requesting the following information from schools:

  1. Process for electing SOT members
  2. Number of applicants who applied to serve on the SOT
  3. Number of votes cast by the school community to elect SOT members
  4. Names of SOT members
  5. Number of years served by SOT members
  6. The process for making budget cuts (plus, what cuts were made)
  7. Average class size
  8. Staff to administrator ratio
  9. Student to administrator ratio
  10. Confirm all SOT meeting agendas and minutes are posted online in a central location (including budgets and a master calendar)

In the future, schools are to survey SOT members to learn how to improve the process and experience.

Public Comment: Members of the public expressed concerns about:

  • How parents are being selected to serve on SOT boards
  • Lack of transparency and fidelity in the implementation of the work of the SOTs

Trustees Approved Medium-Term Obligations

This bond money will be used for new and replacement school buses, special education, general education, and new schools. CCSD is proposing up to $35,000,000 to finance all or a portion of the cost of acquiring, improving, and equipping school facilities.

Click here to see the resolution.

Trustees Heard Updates on CCSD Focus 2024 Priorities

Below is a summary of the updates presented to Trustees related to the priorities of the CCSD strategic plan (Focus 2024):

  • Employee Morale: Improve employee morale and engagement, and increase retention rates.
    • Measure 1: Individuals (employees, parents, community members or others) engage in recognizing employees
      • 2018-2019 Target: 2,000 Engagements
      • 2018-2019 Actual: 6,426 Engagements 
      • 2019-2020 Target: 2,000 Engagements
    • Measure 2: Employees are recognized
      • 2018-2019 Target: 1,600 Employees
      • 2018-2019 Actual: 7,171 Employees recognized
      • 2019-2020 Target: 1,600 Employees
    • Trustees discussed focusing on outcomes for a greater sense of whether morale is improving. 
    • Public Comment: A member of the public expressed a need to consider morale among support staff.
    • Click here to see the presentation.
  • Fiscal Transparency: Improve the quality, communication, and understanding of financial information of the district
    • Measure: Increase the percentage of financial survey respondents noting at least a 4 (on a scale of 1-5) on understanding the quality of financial information
      • 2019-2020 Target: 71%
      • 2018-2019 Actual: 66% of respondents noted at least a 4.
    • Click here to see the presentation.

Trustees Heard an Update on Facilities Improvements

The CCSD Chief of Facilities discussed the need to respond to maintenance emergencies and focus on preventative maintenance, rather than being reactive.

A pilot program to address facilities issues is launching– with 11 Building Engineer positions filled.

Other highlighted topics included:

  • Air Handler Coil Cleaning
  • Air Filter Replacement
  • Water Treatment for HVAC systems
  • Mobile maintenance – Paint, carpentry, and plumbing
  • Energy and Sustainability
  • Evaluation of New Construction to reduce school footprints and associated costs
  • Allocation of CIP funds to modernization
  • Third party cost estimates when construction bids exceed budgeted amount

Click here to see the presentation.

Trustees Approved an Employment Contract for New Chief Negotiator and Assistant General Counsel Position

The position will be filled by Luke Puschnig, the former counsel for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Click here to see the employment contract.

Click here to read about this in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Potential Future Agenda Items:

  • Discuss a secure hotline for CCSD staff to report workplace bullying
  • The Executive Director of the State Public Charter School Authority (SPCSA) is attending the next CCSD work session– related to the SPCSA’s plan to manage the growth of public charter schools.
  • Superintendent Jara requested that Trustees review the draft agreement between CCSD and Clark County (the Open Schools Open Doors policy), and to provide feedback during their one-on-one meetings. This item will be on the next board agenda, contingent upon successful negotiations with the County Commission.

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