Tag: funding formula

Nevada Ed-Watch 9/27/19

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.

Nevada Department of Education Commission on School Funding  

What is the Commission on School Funding and what are they responsible for? The Commission on School Funding is an appointed board created in compliance with Senate Bill 543 (2019) that oversees the development of Nevada’s new K-12 public school funding formula. The Commission is responsible for providing guidance to school districts and the Department of Education on the implementation of the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan. The Commission must present their recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature by December 1, 2020. 

Click here to learn more and see current Commission Members. 

Can community members engage at Commission Meetings? Community members can sign up to speak at the Commission meetings. Members of the public can comment on agenda items during the first public comment period, and non-agenda items during the final public comment period. 

Friday, September 27, 2019
Commission on School Funding Meeting

Click here to see the meeting agenda

What happened at this meeting?

Public Comment

Members of the public provided testimony to the commission regarding:

  • The necessity of the commission to advance education funding in Nevada 
  • Appreciation for Commission members’ dedication to the Pupil-Centered Funding Formula
  • Ensuring that the commission’s processes remain transparent 

The Commission Committed to Four (4) Operating Rules of Engagement
Commission members committed to the following four Rules of Engagement for the operation of all Commission on School Funding meetings:

  1. Honor our time
  2. Respect the work
  3. Value each other
  4. Focus on improvement

Click here  to read more about the Rules of Engagement.

The Commission Heard an Overview of Open Meeting Law Responsibilities 

Highlighted Open Meeting Law responsibilities:

  • Any commission deliberation must occur transparently and in public. 
  • Technology can be used as a supplemental tool to convene a meeting, however there must still be a physical location for the public to participate in the meeting.
  • No more than five (5) members (quorum) may deliberate on a topic outside of an open meeting.

The Commision Elected Guy Hobbs as Vice-Chair 

Guy Hobbs was elected by commission members to serve as Vice-Chair of the Commission.  

The Commission Heard an Overview of the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan

Nevada Department of Education staff presented an overview of the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan, including the roles and responsibilities of the Commission, the department, and the Governor’s finance office (summarized below).

Responsibilities of the commission include:

  • Compare the original Nevada Plan to the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan
  • Project 2019-2021 funding distribution using the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan
  • Review 2019-2021 school district budgets that were prepared using the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan 
  • Make recommendations for needed changes to the Governor and Legislature 
  • Recommend revisions to the Nevada Department of Education, which could include:
    • Cost adjustment factors
    • Necessarily Small School Adjustment
    • Small District Equity Adjustment
    • “Average School” reports

Click here to see the presentation 

The immediate next steps for the commission include: 

  • Determine how to fulfill their mission within established timeframes
  • Identify information needed to facilitate the decision-making process
  • Propose recommendations to improve the implementation of the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan
  • Propose statutory changes to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public education funding

The Commission Established Two (2) Work Groups 

Work groups were established to manage the workload and meet critical timelines of the commission. Work groups must be comprised of five (5) members each. Each group must include one (1) Chief Financial Officer of a district with 40,000 or fewer pupils, and one (1) Chief Financial Officer of a district with 40,000 or MORE pupils. 

Two (2) work groups have been identified based on the key responsibilities and deliverables outlined in Senate Bill  543.

Work Group 1: Formula and Distribution

This work group reviews base funding, the weights for categories of pupils, cost adjustment factors, and the distribution processes.

Members: 

  • Dr. David Jensen (Work Group Lead)
  • Mark Mathers
  • Guy Hobbs
  • Paul Johnson 
  • Punam Mather

Work Group 2: Reporting and Monitoring 

This work group identifies the evidence required to monitor the implementation of the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan (PCFP) and determines recommendations to address any deficiencies.
Members: 

  • Jim McIntosh (Work Group Lead)
  • Jason Goudy
  • A.J. Feuling 
  • Dr. Lisa Morris Hibbler 
  • Dusty Casey 

Click here to learn more about the structure of the work groups.

Requests for Future Agenda Items:

  • See a presentation on the basic definitions of SB 543 terms 
  • Hear insights from the Applied Analysis data team regarding the original inception of the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan

Click here to read about this meeting in the Nevada Independent.

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

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Nevada Ed-Watch 7/17/19

Posted on by Opportunity 180

The Ed-Watch series is designed to increase access to information on decisions being made regarding public education in Clark County and Nevada.

Nevada State Board of Education

What is the State Board of Education & what are they responsible for? The Nevada State Board of Education adopts regulations based on Nevada laws, which are passed down to individual school districts in Nevada to implement. The Board has 11 total (7 appointed and 4 publicly elected) members.

How often does the State Board meet? The Nevada State Board of Education meets once per month on Thursdays at 9:00AM. Click here to see the 2019 Board Meeting Schedule. Click here to visit Hope For Nevada’s #NVEd Calendar.

Can community members engage at State Board Meetings? A time for public comment is provided at the beginning (for agenda items) and at the conclusion (on any matter) of each Board meeting. There is a time limit of three minutes per speaker. Members of the community providing testimony must fill out a visitor card, available on-site the day of the meeting.

Click here for a list of all State Board Members.

Wednesday, July 17, 2019
Nevada State Board of Education Meeting

Click here to see the meeting agenda

What happened at this meeting?

Public Comment

A member of the public expressed concerns about an outdated process for renewing teacher licenses.

President’s Report: 

The President’s Report included:

  • The Nevada Department of Education is working on implementing of public education related bills that came out of the 2019 legislative session. 
  • Well wishes to all educators, administrators, and staff members going into the start of the 2019-2020 school year.

Superintendent’s Report

Superintendent Ebert provided the following updates:

  • Jessica Todtman is the new Chief Strategy Officer for the Nevada Department of Education (NDOE).
  • About one-third of all NDOE staff members attended a legislative debrief meeting to review each bill that the department is implementing or supporting.
  • As a mandate of SB543, the state must form a Commission on School Funding. The commission will provide guidance to school districts and the department on the implementation of the plan for funding public schools. Members of the commission are appointed by the Governor and several members of the Legislature. The commission must hold its first meeting by October 1, 2019. 
  • The State Public Charter School Authority (SPCSA) is working on a Demographic Needs Assessment and a Growth Management Plan to be implemented by January 1, 2020.

Board Approved the Consent Agenda

Consent Agenda highlights:

  • Appointing members to the Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC).
  • Approving instructional materials for the Carson City School District. 

Board Approved the Addition of Mission High School to the Alternative Performance Framework (APF)

The board heard a presentation overview of the Nevada Alternative Performance Framework (APF), and a proposed recommendation to add Mission High School to be measured under the APF.

Generally, schools qualified for the APF fall into one of four categories:

  • Schools offering credit recovery programs
  • Schools offering behavioral/continuation programs
  • Juvenile detention facilities serving adjudicated youth
  • Special education schools serving students with multiple and severe cognitive disabilities

The APF measurement indicators include Academic Achievement, Attendance, Academic progress, Graduation, Student Engagement, and Planning for success. 

Click here to download the presentation. 

Board Conditionally Approved the Application Document for State Public Charter School Authority (SPCSA) Board Positions

The State Board is required to appoint two members to the SPCSA Board by October 2019, as mandated by AB78. For individuals interested in applying, the application will be available on the department’s website. 

Click here to see the draft application document that was presented at the meeting. 

Board members discussed concerns and proposed changes to the application questions to ensure applicant privacy and protection of personal information. The application document was approved with the condition that proposed updates are applied.

Board Heard a Presentation About the Current State of School Funding 

A review of the current state of school funding was requested by board members at the June 2019 board meeting. This presentation provided an overview of the current funding sources for schools.

Click here to download the presentation.

Board Heard a Presentation About Federal and State School Improvement

The board heard an overview of the state’s accountability system under the ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act). 

The presentation focused on the following low-performing school designations: 

  • Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) 
  • Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) 
  • Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI) 

Board members requested information about how schools are held accountable for their performance. It was clarified that the designations above are the first step in the accountability process. Additional information will become available at a later time.

Click here to download the presentation.

Board Approved Changes to the NEPF Recommended by the Teachers and Leaders Council 

The Teachers and Leaders Council presented their recommended changes to the Nevada Educator Performance Framework (NEPF).

The board approved the following recommendations:

Click here to see the presentation.

Potential Future Agenda Items:

  • A review of the teacher licensure renewal process
  • A presentation about Read by Grade 3
  • Updates on teacher vacancies and class size reduction
  • A report on teacher shortage

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Nevada Ed Watch 6/13/19

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, June 13, 2019

Clark County School District Board of Trustees Meeting

Click here to see the meeting agenda

What happened at this meeting?

Public Comment

Many members of the public provided testimony to Trustees regarding the recent decision to cut 170 Dean positions at the Clark County School District. Click here to read about this in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Trustees Heard a Presentation About the Removal of the Dean Position

Superintendent Jara provided a statement and brief presentation about his decision to eliminate the Dean role and displace current Deans. The Superintendent assured the public that school safety will continue to be a priority for the District.

Trustees Unanimously Approved the Consent Agenda

Consent agenda highlights:

  • Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Local Plan
  • IDEA: Early Childhood Project
  • Airforce Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps Unit (JROTC)
  • Grant Submissions:
    • Victory Schools Authorization
    • Funds to continue to the Youthful Offender Program at High Desert State Prison
    • Nevada Ready 21 Technology Grant
    • Tesla Career & Technical Education Grant
  • Gifted and Talented Education (GATE)
  • Books for School Libraries
  • New members of Bond Oversight Committee: Al Davis & Eugene Lazaroff
  • Repairs & updates to a number of school buildings and playground facilities
  • Annual Membership to Council of Great City Schools

Trustees Repealed the CCSD Governance Policy E-2: Student Learning

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

Click here to see the policy.

Trustees Approved Updates to CCSD Construction Bids Policy (7210) and the Purchasing Authority Policy (3311)

The construction bids policy addresses the major differences that have occurred between construction bids and the final costs.

The following updates were made to the construction bids policy:

  • Changing the designee from Assistant Superintendent to the Chief of Facilities
  • Construction change orders cannot cumulatively exceed 3 percent of the original contract for new construction
  • Changes in services cannot cumulatively exceed 5% of the original contract

Click here to see the policy.

Corresponding changes were made to the Purchasing Authority Policy.

Trustees Heard a Legislative Report

CCSD Staff provided a report to recap the end of the 2019 legislative session. The presentation focused on bills and priorities that were part of CCSD’s legislative platform, which include:

  • Modernizing the K-12 Funding Formula (SB543)
  • Preserving Ending Fund Balance (SB543)
  • Increasing Funding for School Safety (SB89, SB551, SB528)
  • Incentives for Title I Teachers (AB196)
  • Additional Resources for Read by Grade 3 (AB289)
  • Preserving an Elected School Board (Failure of AB491, AB57, SB105)
  • Continuation of Early Childhood Education (SB84, SB555)
  • Separate Revenue Stream to Support Vegas PBS (SB501)

Click here to see the presentation.

Potential Future Agenda Items:

  • Information about School Safety funding
  • Information about learning strategist placement
  • Review the decision to remove the Dean role, including the options that were considered, and how the decision was made.
  • Budget updates
  • Revisit governance policies

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Nevada Ed Watch 6/6/19

Posted on by Opportunity 180

The Ed-Watch series is designed to increase access to information on decisions being made regarding public education in Clark County and Nevada.

Nevada State Board of Education

What is the State Board of Education & what are they responsible for? The Nevada State Board of Education adopts regulations based on Nevada laws, which are passed down to individual school districts in Nevada to implement. The Board has 11 total (7 appointed and 4 publicly elected) members.

How often does the State Board meet? The Nevada State Board of Education meets once per month on Thursdays at 9:00AM. Click here to see the 2019 Board Meeting Schedule. Click here to visit Hope For Nevada’s #NVEd Calendar.

Can community members engage at State Board Meetings? A time for public comment is provided at the beginning (for agenda items) and at the conclusion (on any matter) of each Board meeting. There is a time limit of three minutes per speaker. Members of the community providing testimony must fill out a visitor card, available on-site the day of the meeting.

Click here for a list of all State Board Members.

Thursday, June 6, 2019
Nevada State Board of Education Meeting

Click here to see the meeting agenda

What happened at this meeting?

Superintendent’s Report

Superintendent Ebert introduced the Board to two new members of the Superintendent’s cabinet:  

  • Felicia Gonzales: Deputy Superintendent of Teacher Effectiveness and Parent Engagement
  • Heidi Haartz: Deputy Superintendent for Business and Support Services

Board Heard Legislative Updates

Superintendent Ebert provided updates on the following legislation that the Department of Education is following:

  • AB289 – Read by Grade 3 provision updates to provide additional supports into 5th grade retention prevention [Status: Delivered to the Governor]
  • SB313 – Increased focus on computer literacy and computer science [Status: Delivered to the Governor]
  • SB314 – Related to promoting financial literacy via statewide financial literacy counsel and financial literacy seal for student diplomas [Status: Signed by the Governor]
  • AB235 – Related to implementation of mentorship programs [Status: Delivered to the Governor]
  • SB204 – Enhances suicide prevention programs [Status: Signed by the Governor]
  • SB89 – Related to SafeVoice program and describes school improvement plans created by school principals [Status: Delivered to the Governor]
  • AB219 – Relates to reporting information for English Language Learner achievement [Status: Delivered to the Governor]
  • SB467 – Extends Zoom and Victory program funds [Status: Delivered to the Governor]
  • AB78 – Transfers all schools approved by the Achievement School District to the State Public Charter School Authority (SPCSA) and provides for the State Board of Education to appoint two members to the SPCSA Board. [Status: Signed by the Governor]

Funding Bills:

  • SB545 – Marijuana Excise Tax funding specifically designated to distributive school account (DSA) [Status: Delivered to the Governor]
  • SB555 – Increases statewide per pupil funding by approximately 10% [Status: Signed by the Governor]
  • SB 84  – State Pre-K programs & funding [Status: Delivered to the Governor]
  • SB551 – Makes appropriations for certain purposes relating to school safety and to provide supplemental support of the operation of the county school districts [Status: Submitted to the Governor]
  • AB309 – Authorizes counties to implement sales tax for schools. [Status: Delivered to the Governor]
  • SB543 – Revises how the state funds school districts [Status: Delivered to the Governor]

Board Approved the Consent Agenda

Click here to see the full consent agenda.

Board Heard a Presentation on the Great Teaching and Leading Fund Recommendations

The Board heard a presentation on the Review Team’s recommendations for Great Teaching and Leading Fund FY20-FY21 grants– pending the legislative allocation of available funds.

Click here to see the full presentation.

Board Approved Cohort Twenty of the Teach Nevada Scholarship Program (TNVS)

The Board heard about the Teach Nevada Scholarship program, including the success of the program, reconciliation for fiscal years 2016-2019, funding, and requests for FY20 scholarships. The Board approved no more than 200 Teach Nevada scholarships.

Board Heard a Presentation About the State of Education in Nevada

Data Insight Partners led a presentation about the state of education in Nevada– which included a review of student reading and math assessment results, national education rankings, and long-term education attainment. The Board discussed a need to counter negative stigmas about education in Nevada with strategic public relations and communications.

NOTE: The July State Board of Education meeting was rescheduled to July 17th.

Public Comment:

Members of the public requested the Board clarify the definition of students who are considered “At-Risk” in the weighted funding formula.

Potential Future Agenda Items:

  • Presentation on year-over-year funding (and SB555)
  • Ongoing updates to the implementation of the funding formula
  • Presentation on Census 2020 and its impact on education and funding
  • Discussion of bills related to chronic absenteeism and marketing
  • Accountability of low-performing schools following the abolishment of the Nevada Achievement School District (NV ASD).

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Nevada Ed-Watch 5/16/19

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 16, 2019

Clark County School District Board of Trustees Meeting

Click here to see the meeting agenda

What happened at this meeting?

Trustees honored the late Assemblyman Tyrone Thompson by presenting a proclamation to his family. The proclamation honored Mr. Thompson’s commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion in Nevada, as well as his advocacy for quality education for every student.

Public Comment

Members of the public provided testimony to Trustees regarding:

  • A new reading program that is being developed
  • Diversity and representation in school leadership
  • Concerns about employment decisions

Trustees Unanimously Approved the Consent Agenda

The Consent Agenda included an agreement between CCSD and The Smith Center for the Performing Arts that will provide professional learning opportunities for integrating the arts into academic instruction.

Click here to see the agreement.

Trustees Announced the Recipient of the Board of Trustees Scholarship

This is the sixth year the Board has provided a $1,000 scholarship to a student that serves on the School Board Advisory Committee. Coronado High School student, Olivia Yamamoto, was awarded the scholarship this year.

Trustees Heard Updates from the Student Advisory Committee

At the last Student Advisory Committee meeting on May 7th, the following topics were discussed:

  • Dress code policies
    • Student concerns about how dress code is enforced in high school
    • Proposed that different ages have different dress code policies
  • Ways the Student Advisory Committee could be improved in the future

Trustees Updated the Board Meeting Calendar

Trustees voted to revise the calendar of work session and regular Board meetings, including meeting locations while the usual location is undergoing technology updates.

Those changes include:

  • June 27 and July 11 meetings will take place in the Clark County Commissioner Chambers, and will begin at 6pm. 500 S Grand Central Pkwy, Las Vegas, NV 89155
  • Work Sessions scheduled for July 3 and August 7 will take place in the CCSD Administrative center (room 243), and will begin at 8am. 5100 W Sahara Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89146
  • Regular Board meetings scheduled for August 8 and August 22 will take place in the Theater at Valley High School at 5pm. 2839 Burnham Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89169

Click here to see the updated Board Calendar.

Trustees Approved a Proposal to the Oversight Panel for School Facilities

Trustees approved a proposal submission to the Oversight Panel for School Facilities. The Oversight panel for school facilities addresses whether CCSD should issue bonds.

Click here to see the proposal.

Trustees Review American Indian/Alaska Native Policies and Procedures of Federal Impact Aid

Trustees approved an application for Impact Aid (Section 7003), which provides basic operation and maintenance funds needed to educate and transport federally-connected  student eligible under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Click here to learn more.

Trustees Heard a Presentation on School Audits

Auditors completed school audits, which focus on looking for good internal controls to make sure that the district’s assets are protected.

82 regular school audits were conducted as of March 31. The following results came out of the internal audits for this fiscal year:

  • 70% Normal (standard findings)
  • 14% Clean Audits (no reportable findings)
  • 13.4% Priority (these are re-audited within 9-12 months)
  • 1.5% At-Risk (these are re-audited within 6-9 months)

If a school is given Priority or At-Risk status twice in a row, the Regional and School Associate Superintendents get involved to go over results and work with the schools to correct key controls and operations.

Click here to see the presentation.

Trustees Heard Legislative Updates

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

  • SB453: Revises the Nevada education Funding Formula. Click here to read about SB453 in the Nevada Independent.
  • AB309: Streamlines accounting of state education funds and authorizes counties to raise sales tax to fund education.  Click here to read about AB309 in the Nevada Independent.
  • SB469: Revises  the reorganization of large school districts
  • AB88: Revises the way school districts allocate funds to schools

Additionally, Superintendent Jara made a statement regarding the recent vote by 4,000 Clark County Education Association members to strike in the 2019-2020 school year. He stated that although CCSD continues to advocate for additional school funding, that they will continue do so through legal, constitutional means (a strike would be against Nevada law).

Click here to read about this in the Nevada Independent.

Potential Future Agenda Items:

  • Coordination of monthly community Trustee meetings
  • Review the procedure for providing responses to public comment
  • Updates on implicit bias training

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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 4/11/19

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, April 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 to Trustees regarding:

  • Concerns about accountability and actions needed to address the alleged racially-motivated threats at at Arbor View. This included requests for implicit bias training, evaluating the student expulsion process, and ensuring student, teacher, and family voices are heard. Click here to read about this in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Superintendent Jara responded with updates on actions taken, which included offering free counseling to Arbor View students and staff, and selecting the National Equity Project to provide implicit bias training for staff beginning this month. Additional updates included:

  • Ensuring the students who made the threats will not be returning to Arbor View.
  • Working with the appropriate agencies to allow any student to transfer schools without affecting their involvement in sports.
  • Increasing security monitoring at the school campus.
  • Reviewing the current code of student conduct, to include adding a parental notification procedure for victims of incidents.
  • Sharing data with the community related to all racial incidents on campus (to be published on the CCSD website).

Trustees Unanimously Approve the Consent Agenda

Consent Agenda Highlights:

  • Establish and Operate and Air Force JROTC Unit.
  • Partnering with WestED to create an Early Warning Indicator Dashboard to identify and support students who may be at risk of disengaging from school, not making regular grade progress, or not graduating from high school.
  • Golden Knights Academy Hockey Program to implement hockey into CCSD physical curriculum, which will provide:
    • Hockey training & curriculum to all CCSD elementary, middle, and junior high school physical education teachers
    • One set of street hockey equipment for all CCSD elementary, middle, and junior high schools.
      Click here to see the agreement.

Trustees Hear Legislative Updates

Trustees heard a presentation on legislation that CCSD is tracking. Updating the Nevada funding formula is recognized as CCSD’s top legislative priority.

Click here to see all the presented updates.

Trustees Heard About Protocol for Communication of School Threats

In response to the alleged racial threats at Arbor View, Trustees heard a presentation on the current process for communicating school threats with school principals, district leaders, parents, Trustees, and the media. Trustees showed concern about a process to differentiate communications based on the severity of the threat.

Click here to see the presentation.

Potential Future Agenda Items

  • Discuss the costs, implementation, and timeline of the National Equity Project implicit bias training
  • Discuss active suicide prevention programs in middle and high schools and ways to be more proactive
  • Review the protocol for assessing school threats, and possibly make policy changes
  • Discuss transportation issues and communicating to parents when busses arrive late
  • Modify the dress code policy
  • Connect Trustees to cultural competency and diversity training

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