Nevada Ed-Watch 3/5/19

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.


Tuesday, March 5, 2019
Nevada State Board of Education Hiring Sub-Committee Meeting

Click here to see the meeting agenda

What happened at this meeting?

Hiring Sub-Committee Selects Semi-Finalists for State Superintendent of Public Instruction Position

The Hiring Sub-Committee is made up of the following Board Members:

  • Member Newburn, chair
  • Member Ortiz, vice chair
  • Member Holmes-Sutton, parent representative
  • Member Hudson, voice of teachers
  • Member Carter, member from the north

Sub-Committee members voted for the State Board to interview the following semi-finalists for the State Superintendent of Public Instruction position:

  • David Donaldson
  • Marion Smith Jr.
  • Jhone Ebert
  • Kristen McNeill
  • Brett Barley
  • Seng-Dao Yang Keo

Tammy Malich and Icela Pelayo were selected as alternative candidates (in that order) to be interviewed in the event that anyone from the above list declines an interview.

Interviews will take place at the State Board meeting on March 12th. Then, three candidates will be selected to be submitted to the Governor’s office for final selection.

Board members are submitting interview questions for review by Human Resources and General Council. Questions will not be publicly available and the Board will not see the final round of questions until the meeting next week.

Read more about this in the Review Journal

Read more about this in the Nevada Independent


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Nevada Ed-Watch 2/15/19

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.


Friday, February 15, 2019
Nevada State Board of Education Work Session

What happened at this work session?

Board Hears from Members of the Public About State Superintendent of Public Instruction Job Description

The major themes of public input included:

  • A commitment to diversity
  • A commitment to high level of accountability to all students
  • A balance between understanding national and local education issues, including tribal sovereignty

The parent groups HOPE for Nevada and RISE Up Nevada identified the following as their number 1 priority for the search from the job description: Has successfully met the challenges of leading a large organization dedicated to ambitious goals, high standards, and continuous improvement and can articulate a clear vision of quality education with documented evidence of consistent, positive results.

Click here to view the job description.

Board Approves a Hiring Subcommittee of 5 Board Members:

The 5 approved members are:

  • Member Newburn, chair
  • Member Ortiz, vice chair
  • Member Holmes-Sutton, parent rep
  • Member Hudson, voice of teachers
  • Member Carter, member from the north

The subcommittee is working with the HR office a the Department of Education to ensure a robust search for a new Superintendent of Public Instruction.

The following timeline was outlined for next steps:

  • March 1st: deadline for applicants to submit their applications
  • March 5th: subcommittee meeting to select qualified candidates to be interviewed.
  • March 12th: at the State Board meeting, qualified candidates will be interviewed and 3 finalists will be selected to be submitted to the Governor’s office for final selection.

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