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 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 in turn 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 2018 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, November 15, 2018
Nevada State Board of Education
Click here to see the meeting agenda
What Happened at This Meeting?
Superintendent Provides Update on School Safety Task Force
The Superintendent provided a brief update on the concluding work of the Statewide School Safety Task Force. Established by Governor Sandoval, the Task Force is charged with developing recommendations for safety practices in all Nevada schools. The Task Force concluded its work this month and is due to provide a final report before the end of November.
The Consent Agenda Included Approval of:
- 2-year licensing (written authorization to operate) for Greater Las Vegas Academy private school.
- Dual credit request for courses offered by the College of Southern Nevada to the Leadership Academy of Nevada (LANV)
Board Approves Amendments to School Organizational Teams (AB 469)
The approved amendments:
- Establish a dispute resolution process for all School Organization Team (SOT) members, including teachers and parents.
- Establish provisions to streamline contract-based services that are provided by the school district to schools.
- Create a legal definition of the term “allocated” and ensures that SOT’s and school principals have authority over their dollars.
Click here to see the full regulations document
Board Approves Amendment to the Creation, Submission, and Approval of School Calendars
Board members updated the way that educators’ professional development time is aggregated. This allows professional development that occurs for a portion of a day, rather than a full day, to be counted towards the total number of required professional development days.
Click here to see the full school calendar regulations document
Board Approves Amendment to the Statewide Performance Evaluation System for Teachers and School-Level Administrators
The amendment includes language updates for peer evaluations among teachers, and revisions to the data used to measure teacher performance.
Click here to see the full performance evaluation regulations document
Board Recognizes 2019 Teacher of the Year
Nevada’s 2019 Teach of the Year recognition went to Mr. Richard Knoeppel, who teaches Architecture at Advanced Technologies Academy HS (Clark County School District). As Teacher of the Year, he is reserved a seat on the Superintendent’s Teacher Advisory Council (STAC). Mr. Knoeppel also serves as one of the inaugural Fellows of the Nevada Teach Plus Policy Fellowship.
Board Discusses the Inaugural State Superintendent’s Teacher Advisory Cabinet (STAC)
The Board was introduced to the inaugural State Superintendent’s Teacher Advisory Cabinet (STAC), heard updates on the application and selection process, and reviewed the goals and vision for the 2018-2020 term. The purpose of the cabinet, consisting of 21 teachers, is to increase teacher voice in State-level policy making.
The board expressed concern about the group not reflecting the diverse student population.
Click here to see the full STAC presentation
Board Approves Tesla’s Nevada K-12 Education Investment
A representative from Tesla presented an update on current initiatives that support robotics and STEM learning– with the goal to directly support the development of Nevada’s future engineers.
The Board accepted $6 million to the education gift account as part of Tesla’s ongoing commitment to invest $37.5 million in education.
Click here to see the Tesla investment letter
Board Discusses Report to Reassess Public Education Funding Methods
The Board discussed a report created by Augenblick, Palaich and Associates– the independent consultant contracted to study the funding method currently used for Nevada Public Education. The study team recommends replacing the existing funding approach with a more student-centered formula that:
- Shifts from an expense-based model (determined by historical spending) to a costs-based model (determined by the resources needed to meet state standards and requirements).
- Is responsive to student needs through weighted funding (additional resources allocated to students based on need, such as being an English learner or a special education student). There are currently some resources available for these students that are allocated through categorical funds. A weighted formula would ensure ALL students that have these needs receive the same resources, regardless of their school.
- Is responsive to unique district characteristics.
The Board expressed support of a new funding model, with the need for strong accountability and transparency, and to create concise marketing materials to share the proposed model with the public.
Click here to see the presentation deck
The proposed new funding model is included in the Department of Education’s Bill Draft Requests for the next legislative session.
Board Approves Alternate Summative Evaluation Rating Tool for Evaluating CCSD Teachers
The Board approved recommendations by the Teachers and Leaders Council requesting use of an alternative tool to evaluate teacher performance for the 2018-19 school year.
Click here to see the Teacher Evaluation Rating Tool
Board Discusses the Statewide Teacher Performance Evaluation System
The Teachers and Leaders Council presented the Nevada Educator Performance Framework (NEPF) scores for teachers and administrators from the 2017-18 school year, as well as their recommendations for score ranges for the 2018-2019 year. Board members expressed concern that the current rating method does not accurately reflect teacher performance and is not a tool that fosters continued professional growth.
Rather than approving the 2018-2019 score ranges as proposed, the Board requested a “set of recommended changes and actions needed to improve the overall accuracy of the category assignments.”
Click here to see the full presentation
Public Comment
Members of the public expressed gratitude to the Board for approving the alternate teacher evaluation tool. Other comments focused on advocating for school districts to receive additional funds from local municipalities (county governments).
Potential Future Items:
- Role of the Board to support the transition of Nevada’s new Governor.
- Review Bill Draft Requests that were supported by outgoing legislators.
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