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 25, 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, and rather an oral summary of each comment was provided to Trustees.
Click here to view posted public comment on agenda items.
Click here & here to view posted public comment on non-agenda items.
Trustees Approved the Consent Agenda
Consent Agenda Highlights:
- Agreement with the Victoria Siegel Foundation to pilot the Victory Club program for a “proactive approach to drug awareness.” Students will pay a membership fee of $10.00 per month to be involved.
- Vegas PBS Annual Production Plan for educational programs.
Trustees Discussed Appointments to Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA)
The NIAA is the governing body for high school athletics and activities. The Board of Trustees provides two appointments to the NIAA board, one CCSD employee who meets specific criteria, and one member of the Board of Trustees. Trustees voted to re-appoint Pam Sloan to the NIAA board. Trustees chose to defer voting on the Trustee appointee until the next Board meeting in order to further discuss issues related to the racial and ethnic diversity of NIAA board appointees.
Trustees Heard Budget Update
CCSD’s Chief Financial Operator provided an update to the board regarding the 2020-2021 budget. Currently, the District is still waiting on budget numbers from the Nevada Department of Education to fully outline the impacts of budget cuts. Trustees were also provided with an overview of school strategic budget revenue sources for FY20. Approximately $120 million will carry forward from school strategic budgets into the new year, in compliance with NAC388G ($53 million in employment vacancies, $60 million in supplies, and $7 million in service level agreements). These funds stay at individual school sites and are carried forward to the next school year.
Click here to view the presentation.
Click here to view the Budget Allocation document.
Trustees Discussed CCSD 2020-2021 School Year Draft Reopening Plan
CCSD’s Deputy Superintendent and members of the executive team provided a presentation to Trustees on the plan for reopening CCSD schools for the 2020-2021 school year for feedback. Guidance from the Nevada Department of Education requires districts to submit reopening plans that assume schools will open under Phase 2 of Nevada’s reopening no less than 20 days before the first day of school. A final plan will be presented to the Board for approval at the July 9th Board meeting.
Plan highlights:
- Start Date
- School will begin for educators on August 10th, and for students on August 24th. Educators, including substitute teachers, will be provided with two weeks of professional development related to distance learning. Upon the return of students, Wednesdays will be dedicated to professional learning for all educators.
- Cohorts
- Students will be incorporated into one of three cohorts. Staff stated that parents will have the opportunity to provide preferences for cohorts. Two cohorts of students will attend school in-person two days per week and utilize distance learning for the remaining three days per week. One cohort of students will engage in distance-learning only, and will not attend school in-person. CCSD will be releasing a survey for parents to provide their cohort preferences, as well as share any barriers related to device or internet access.
- Middle and high school level courses will be condensed from one year to one semester. Students will take four total classes per semester.
- Devices
- Approximately 100,000 students still need access to a distance-learning device (Chromebook). Due to supply chain issues, CCSD does not expect all students to be 1:1 on devices before October 2020.
- Use of Masks
- All staff, students, and visitors are required to wear masks with the exception of children under 2 years of age, those who cannot remove their mask themselves, and those who have trouble breathing. Face shields may not be used in lieu of masks.
Major concerns outlined by Trustees and the public include:
- Access to childcare for students on days students are not attending school in-person;
- Ensuring students with special needs receive appropriate educational services;
- Ensuring students have access to meals on days they are not attending in-person school;
- Ensuring teachers have adequate time to prepare and teach lessons both in-person and through distance learning ; and
- Health and safety of individuals with health risks.
Public comment:
1,304 members of the public provided comments on this item with concerns related to: implementing a 5-day school schedule; overall disagreement with the plan; concerns for staff and student safety; concerns about lunch and transportation; and support for students with special needs.
Click here to view the presentation
Click here to read about this in The Nevada Independent
Click here to read about this in The Las Vegas Review-Journal
Click here to read about this in The Nevada Current
Trustees Defer Remaining Agenda Items to Next Meeting
Trustees voted to defer agenda items 5.03 (Three Year Charter School Site Evaluation Report) and 5.04 (Legislative Priorities) to the July 9th Board Meeting.
Requests for Future Agenda Items:
- Update on the distribution of devices to students