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Nevada Ed-Watch

La serie Ed-Watch está diseñada para aumentar el acceso a la información sobre qué decisiones
se están tomando con respecto a la educación pública en el condado de Clark y Nevada.

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 5 pm both virtually and at the Edward A. Greer Education Center Board Room (2832 E Flamingo Rd, 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. 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, via email, or via voice recording. Email comments should be submitted to Boardmtgcomments@nv.ccsd.net. To submit a voice recording on items listed on the meeting agenda, call 702-799-1166. Voice recorded public comment is limited to 1 minute 30 seconds.


Thursday, August 26, 2021

Clark County School District Board of Trustees Meeting

Click here to see the meeting agenda

¿Qué ocurrió en esta reunión?

The agenda was adopted with the addendum of agenda item 3.19 Employment Agreement – Chief Communications Officer. One trustee was not present to vote. 

Public Comment on Agendized Action Items

Members of the public submitted public comment on agenda items regarding: 

  • Concerns about class sizes, the class-size reduction plan, and the ability to effectively social distance with current capacities. 
  • Concerns about zone variances.
  • Teacher and staff vacancies and lack of substitutes. 
  • Concerns about the employment agreement for assistant general counsel. 
  • Concerns about the use of funds allocated to COVID-19 testing. 
  • Concerns over the development and implementation of the anti-racism policy.
  • Requests for the addition of restorative justice practices with a sense of urgency and transparency around planning. 
  • Concerns about the selection of the anti-racism task force committee members. 
  • Honoring the Southern Paiute people on whose land we stand on.
  • Concerns related to the treatment of, discipline of, and use of force on CCSD students. 
  • The need for access to mental health services. 
  • Concerns about exam fees.  

Click here to view written public comment on agendized action items submitted online. 

Consent Agenda Highlights:

  • Approval to spend $75,000 to contract with ProjectHEAL to provide professional learning services to 190 site-based employees to improve the effectiveness of social-emotional academic learning and equity efforts. 
  • Approval to spend $56,000 to contract with Magnet Schools of America to provide professional learning services to 135 site-based employees to improve cultural competency efforts. 
  • Approval of additional classes to be considered for both high school credit towards high school graduation and college credit
  • Approval to spend $647,617 to purchase exam fees for the Preliminary SAT 8/9 for all students in Grade 8 and the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test for all students in Grade 10 from the College Board for the purpose of student achievement, for approximately 49,611 students. 
  • Approval of employment agreement for Sami Rudolph for Assistant General Counsel. 
  • Approval of class-size reduction plan, with special attention given to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades. 

The consent agenda passed with abstention from one trustee and one trustee absent. 

Trustees Heard Presentation on the Anti-Racism Policy Development Work

38 members compose Superintendent Jara’s External Anti-Racism, Equity, and Inclusion Taskforce. The taskforce has planned to discuss a number of proposed topics including stakeholder engagement, project planning, and policy review. Critical Race Theory will not be included in the discussions. 

Trustees also heard an update regarding the timeline for the development of the anti-racism policy: 

  • July 2021: Assembly Bill 371 (2021) passed; CCSD included review of steps taken to be in compliance with this legislation
  • August 2021: Superintendent’s external task force formed
  • October 2021: Anti-racism policy first draft
  • November 2021: Draft review and update
  • December 2021: Anti-racism policy Notice of Intent 
  • January 2022: Proposed final adoption of policy 

Several trustees had questions regarding the criteria for the selection of task force members and the lack of a representative from West Las Vegas on the task force. 

Click here to view the presentation. 

Click here to view a list of the Superintendent Jara’s External Anti-Racism, Equity, and Inclusion Taskforce members. 

Trustees Heard a Presentation on the Substitute Teachers and Substitute Support Professionals

Trustees were briefed on arecommendation to contract with Education Staffing Services (ESS), a substitute staffing company, to provide substitute services. The district considered two options to address the lack of substitute teachers, improve services to students, and provide opportunities for substitute teachers and support professionals to earn full-time benefits: hiring full-time substitutes with benefits or outsourcing to a substitute staffing company. 

The substitute staffing company, ESS, is a national provider of manager solutions for K-12 education currently serving 750 school districts in 30 states. ESS would be responsible for recruiting, hiring, training, placing, and managing substitute teachers and support professionals. If approved by the board, the contract would begin October 1, 2021, and would cost the district $9.5 million per year. 

Trustees had questions regarding the fingerprinting process, responsibility of liability, the possibility of HR individuals losing their jobs due to these changes, the barriers retired educators face in returning to the district as a substitute, effect on current pay rates and sick time of substitute teachers, the community’s response to this proposed solution, and the length and specifics of the proposed contract and the ability to terminate the contract. 

Click here to view the presentation. 

Click here to view a reference document. 

Trustees Heard a Presentation on the Current Budget Forecast

The current budget forecast outlines changes in funding due to the Pupil Centered Funding Plan (PCFP), including the change of categorical grants now being included in the general fund, the addition of weighted funding (at-risk, english learners, and gifted and talented), and the funding that is still outside of the PCFP. The amended enrollment estimate is now 300,000 students. When the amended final budget is presented, the count day numbers will be included, allowing for a more accurate calculation.

Additional updates:

  • CCSD anticipates $181 million more in funds than anticipated in the final budget due togrants moving into the general operating budget and additional funding from the PCFP.
  • $111 million in sunsetted grant funding will now be reclassified to the weights outlined in PCFP, the hold harmless for Zoom and Victory schools, and additional funding potentially utilized for employee raises, increases in medical benefit contributions through negotiations, and other operational needs of the district.
  • There is $84 million in ESSER I funding and $346 million in ESSER II funding which the district is in the process of allocating to summer school, curriculum, and training.
  • The District is currently receiving community and public input via its Focus on the Future for Kids initiative on $778 million in ESSER III funding.
  • The district is still in negotiations with all bargaining units and once that process concludes, the use of additional funds will be allocated appropriately. 

Click here to view the presentation. 

Trustees Approved the 2021 Medium-Term Bond Authorization 

The 2021 medium-term bond authorization, proposed by Clark County School District, would issue up to $35,000,000 in medium-term obligations, repaid within 5 years. The proceeds of these obligations will be used to purchase new and replacement police and white fleet vehicles and technology. 

One trustee was not present to vote. 

Click here to view the reference document. 

Trustees Approved Updates to Board Governance Policies 

Trustees voted to approve the following changes to the CCSD Board of Trustees Governance Policies: 

One trustee was not present to vote. 

Trustees Approved Notice of Intent to Update School Assignment Policies & Regulations 

Trustees heard a presentation from staff outlining Policy 5112 and associated Regulation 5112 with a focus on efficiency, capacity of schools, and equity. The presentation included data around zone variances, a possible imbalance in race and ethnicity around zone variances, the cost of portable classrooms, and the current progress around promoting equity in the district. The presentation also outlined the current process and procedure around zone variances and the new zone variance process which will mirror the current magnet school process. The presentation provided clarity around justifications for why a student may attend a school not in their assigned attendance zone, as well as the proposed process and procedures for determining space, a lottery, and COSA. The timeline, in alignment with the magnet school process, for the proposed change was presented. The following existing programs, open enrollment, select schools, and board-approved options, such as minority-to-majority, will be phased out. This new process will also include management systems to check for oversight. 

These items will come back before the board for final approval at the September 23 trustee meeting. 

One trustee was not present to vote. 

Click here to view the presentation. 

Trustees Submitted Requests for Future Board Items

  • Trustee requested that item be added to agenda regarding COVID-19 cases in CCSD school 
  • Trustee requested that criteria for closing schools due to COVID-19 cases be made public

Public Comment on Non-Agenda Items

Members of the public submitted public comment on non-agenda items regarding: 

  • Concerns regarding mask mandate.
  • Concerns regarding the recruitment and treatment of substitute teachers.
  • Concerns regarding the COVID-19 testing and quarantine policy.
  • Concerns regarding the possibility of a vaccine mandate.
  • Concerns regarding the Teachers Health Trust and teachers’ ability to access healthcare. 
  • Concerns regarding the level of access students have in giving public comment at board meetings.
  • Concerns regarding the number of teacher vacancies. 
  • Request for additional resources and support for administrators, teachers, staff, and students.
  • Concerns regarding the transparency and transmission of information from the district; request for information to be provided in more languages to better serve the unique populations of the district.

Click here and here to view written public comment on non-agenda items submitted online. 

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