Nevada Ed-Watch: Washoe County School District 4/9/24

Washoe County School District Board of Trustees

What is the Board of Trustees & what are they responsible for? The Washoe County School District Board of 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.

How often does the Board of Trustees meet? Trustees meet twice per month (second and fourth Tuesdays) at 2 pm both virtually and at the Central Administration Building Board Room, 425 E. 9^th St., Reno, NV 89512.

Click here for a full list of Trustees meetings.

Can community members engage at Trustee meetings? Decision-making bodies benefit greatly from hearing public input and multiple perspectives. Currently, members of the public can submit comments on agenda and non-agenda items through email or voice recording. Public comment can be provided in person or via email. Email comments should be submitted to publiccomments@washoeschools.net.

Tuesday, April 9, 2024

Washoe County School District Board of Trustees Meeting

Click here to see the meeting agenda.
Watch the meeting playback.

What happened at this meeting?

Trustees Approved the Consent Agenda

Consent agenda highlights include:

• Approval of the alternate schedule for the 2024-25 school year
• Approval to revise a Memorandum of Agreement between WCSD and Washoe Education Association to provide for additional compensation for members impacted by ongoing staffing shortages
• Approval to provide authority to the Board President and Vice President to negotiate the employment agreement between the Board of Trustees and the new/incoming Superintendent of Schools, and to retain the Platt Law Group to assist with negotiations and drafting
• Final approval of revisions to Board Policy 4110 – Talent Acquisition
• Several facilities and purchasing items

Explore the consent agenda here.

Trustees Approved the 2024-25 Tentative Budget for Washoe County School District

Staff reviewed the 2024-25 tentative budget for the District. In the general fund budget, the District has a structurally balanced budget, with a total revised deficit of $1,923,670 offset by cost reductions and revenue increases. Total critical needs cost increases and related offsets are $209,634, and other cost reductions total $1,748,411.

The total ending fund balance target is 12%, and the 2025 tentative budget is 9.8%, with the decrease in balance percentage is due to increased expenditures from State revenues.

General fund reorganizations and position changes include requests to delete a SHARE Coordinator position and adding a Teaching and Learning Specialist to support math curriculum and instruction; the SHARE curriculum is up to date and these duties can be absorbed within the current structure. In school police, there was a request to downgrade the never-filled Lieutenant position to a Sergeant position. The change will result in a more equal distribution of supervision and effective span of control among sergeants, and will result in a $12,443 cost savings.

Board requests include three new bus drivers to provide transportation for Innovations students, offset by reductions to the Superintendent’s budget, including the deletion of the $100,000 strategic plan implementation budget, and reducing $50,000 from the Department Assessments Budget.

Several options were presented for additional school police vehicles at high schools. The options range from $12,188 – $57,688. Additionally, athletic directors were explored at each of the high schools, but most of the high schools currently use a full-time teacher allocation for the role, and most schools use a full-time AD through a gen ed or alt ed allocation.

Budget allocations by strategic plan goals are as follows:

An overview of other funds, including special revenue funds, at-risk funding, internal service funds, and capital projects funds and position requests were also reviewed.

The Board approved the Tentative Budget for fiscal year 2024-25, including the reorganization recommendations and recommendations to resolve the General Fund deficit. The final budget presentation will take place at the May 28 board meeting.

Explore the presentation.

Trustees Received an Update from McPherson & Jacobson on the Superintendent Search Process

Representatives from McPherson and Jacobson updated Trustees on the superintendent search process. The application period has now closed. The timeline of upcoming activities includes candidates submitting videos, interview preparation with Trustees, public announcement of finalists by April 15, and interview activities from April 24-26. Additional updates include:

• Opportunity for stakeholder comments on finalists will occur during April 25 – May 3, 2024
• Public release of stakeholder comments report will take place on May 8, 2024
• Public selection of the new superintendent will happen on May 14, 2024

Explore the presentation.

Trustees Discussed a Presentation on Quality of Education – Strategic Plan Goal 3 – Safety and Belonging, Reviewed Student and Staff Climate Survey Data, and Key Strategies Used to Improve Student Learning Outcomes

Trustees celebrated Eli Shoemaker, a fifth grade student from Hunter Lake Elementary who is a three-time Gold Award Winner for academic excellence and behavior, and the students and team at Lake Elementary.

Results from the 2023-24 climate survey were also presented. In total, 27,506 student responses were recorded; this is a 71.4% response rate and an increase from 2022-23. In total, 2,552 staff responses were recorded; this is a 45.2% response rate, a decrease from 2022-23. Perceptions of school climate were stable the past three years. There was an increase in students reporting bullying at their school, and perceptions of cyberbullying have increased more than other areas of bullying. Two-thirds of students agree or strongly agree that students often spread rumors or lies about others at their school on the internet.

Students’ perceptions of their social and emotional competencies have mostly remained stable. Self-management skills are the most difficult for students (skills most strongly associated with academic outcomes).

Staff perceptions of school climate have remained largely stable over time; staff generally rate their school environment positively, but less so on work stress. Perceptions of work stress continue to be high.

Generally, schools with higher rates of students who believe that staff care about them have lower chronic absenteeism rates; this is also true of schools with students who feel engaged and a sense of belonging.

Students tend to rate themselves higher on being able to rate themselves on responsible decision making, self-awareness and relationship skills, but there are ongoing issues that students face following bullying, cyberbullying, or being mean to one another.

Discussion followed around the topics of a cell phone policy to decrease bullying/media usage. School performance was also discussed and how it connects with self-management of interpersonal issues and skills.

Explore the presentation.

Student Representative’s Report

Student Representative report highlights include:

• Every high school in Washoe County has their own council where they can voice their opinions and middle schools have been growing their council as well.
• A student voice conference will be held on May 17 where middle and high schools can collaborate with one another and high schoolers can prepare middle schoolers for recruitment to their respective high school councils.

Public Comment

• Housing availability and concerns
• Concerns on funding cuts related to transportation for CTE-related programs

The next Meeting of the Board of Trustees is scheduled for April 23, 2024, at 2:00 p.m.