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.
State Public Charter School Authority (SPCSA)
What is the SPCSA & what are they responsible for? Considered one of Nevada’s school districts, the SPCSA sponsors and oversees public charter schools. The Authority consists of seven appointed members responsible for overseeing educational and operational standards and holding sponsored schools accountable to the academic achievement of students.
How often does the SPCSA Board meet? The SPCSA typically meets once a month, generally on Fridays.
Click here for SPCSA meeting schedule and materials.
Can community members engage at SPCSA Board Meetings? Meetings of the SPCSA are typically held publicly at the Nevada Department of Education building in Carson City and the Nevada Department of Education building in Las Vegas (1st floor boardroom). Members of the public may view the meeting online via the link on the SPCSA’s Public Notice web page and the agenda and any supporting materials can be found here. Public comment may be given on any agenda item at the beginning of the meeting, or public comment regarding any matter that is SPCSA-related may be given at the conclusion of each Board meeting. Members of the community giving public comment can utilize the following conference call line: 1-775-321-6111; Phone Conference ID: 894 302 869#. During the public comment periods, callers will dial *5 to raise their hand. The moderator will call out the last 4 numbers of the caller’s phone number, at that time you will dial *6 to unmute and make comment. There is a time limit of three minutes per speaker. Alternatively, public comment may be submitted in writing to publiccomment@spcsa.nv.gov, and any such public comment received prior to the meeting will be provided to the Authority and included in the written minutes of the meeting.
Click here for a list of all SPCSA Members.
Click here for a list of all SPCSA sponsored schools.
Friday, July 25, 2025
State Public Charter School Authority Board Meeting
Access the meeting agenda and playback.
What happened at this meeting?
SPCSA Executive Director’s Report
Highlights from the report include:
- School Highlight: Several Mater Academy campuses and Somerset Academy Lone Mountain are excelling at student pick-up and drop-off, including processes, family engagement and communications, and traffic safety procedures.
- Delinquent Schools PERS Contributions: The most recent file on PERS contributions can be found here. There are no additional updates beyond that tracking sheet.
- Pre-K Manual: With additional schools now encompassing Pre-K, SPCSA staff has completed its first official Pre-K manual, as well as new processes for adding Pre-K seats outlining quality requirements, curriculum specifications, and other information. You can review the manual here.
Board Approved the Academic Performance Framework Revisions
The proposed updates to the Framework only will impact one current school in the SPCSA portfolio, due to the fact that the particular school will never receive an NSPF rating; therefore, the SPCSA is not able to give them an Academic Performance Framework rating and evaluate its academic performance. To adapt for this, the SPCSA proposed an addendum to have a K-3 Academic Framework that would use data specific to grades K, 1, 2, and 3, including kindergarten entry assessment, Read by 3 assessment, and chronic absenteeism. The Nevada Department of Education was consulted in developing this revision.
Explore the presentation.
Board Approved a Temporary Facility for WYLEES
The Board approved an amendment to WYLEES’ charter application to occupy a temporary space, in the event their permanent facility is not ready prior to the first day of school. This step is viewed as a contingency plan. The temporary facility would be located at the Cambridge Recreation Center.
Explore the recommendation memo.
Board Heard an Update on 2024-25 Site Evaluations
Staff provided an update on site evaluations, as required by Nevada Revised Statutes. The purpose of the site evaluation is to exercise oversight, enhance monitoring, and document strengths, progress, and opportunities, as well as leverage best practices of well-established organizers. An overview of site evaluation timelines was also presented.
The process includes a pre-site evaluation communication, meetings with schools, researching school data, and review of the school presentation, and viewing recent governing board meetings. Site evaluations take place over one full day, with several focus groups, observing classrooms, conducting routine checks, identifying strengths, challenges, and recommendations with the team, identifying compliance concerns, and debriefing with school leaders. Following the evaluation, information is disaggregated, the report is sent to the school and placed on the SPCSA website, and follow-up and necessary monitoring takes place.
In total, 63 schools had site evaluations during the 2024-25 school year, and 1,477 total classrooms were observed. Nine schools received strong recommendations, and 11 schools received deficiencies. For the 2025-26 school year, there are about 55 projected evaluations.
Common strengths observed include positive relationships between students and staff, focusing on data to drive instruction, strong leadership teams, increased graduation rates and participation in College and Career Readiness, and implementing Tier 1, 2, and 3 instruction. Common areas of improvement include recruiting and retaining staff, chronic absenteeism, improving star ratings, and building instructional capacity.
Review the presentation.
Board Received Annual Charter Application Training
Each member of the SPCSA Board must completed annual training on charter applications. Staff provided an overview of the application package, evaluation rubric, the demographic and needs assessment (and alignment), and governance requirements.
Explore the training presentation.
Long-Range Calendar (next 3 months):
Agenda items over the next three SPCSA board meetings are anticipated to include:
- New charter school applications
- Proposed changes to Site Evaluation Process and site evaluation schedules
- Regulations
- 2024-25 Organizational Performance Framework results
Explore the calendar.
Public Comment
No public comments were heard in-person or online; two written comments were submitted and posted to the website.
The next Meeting of the SPCSA Board is scheduled for Friday, August 22, @ 9:00 a.m.
