Nevada Ed-Watch: Washoe County School District 1/28/25

Junta Directiva del Distrito Escolar del Condado de Washoe

¿Qué es la Junta Directiva y de qué es responsable? La Junta Directiva del Distrito Escolar del Condado de Washoe es el órgano decisorio elegido públicamente para el distrito escolar. Son responsables de supervisar al Superintendente y de establecer la política del Distrito. Los administradores son responsables de trabajar con sus comunidades para mejorar el rendimiento de los estudiantes.

Haga clic aquí para obtener más información y consultar la lista de administradores actuales.

¿Con qué frecuencia se reúne el Consejo de Administración? Los administradores se reúnen dos veces al mes (segundo y cuarto martes) a las 14.00 horas, tanto virtualmente como en la sala de juntas del edificio de la Administración Central, 425 E.^9th St., Reno, NV 89512.

Haga clic aquí para consultar la lista completa de reuniones de los Administradores.

¿Pueden los miembros de la comunidad participar en las reuniones de los administradores? Los órganos decisorios se benefician enormemente de las aportaciones del público y de sus múltiples puntos de vista. En la actualidad, el público puede enviar comentarios sobre los puntos del orden del día y los que no lo están a través del correo electrónico o de una grabación de voz. Los comentarios del público pueden hacerse en persona o por correo electrónico. Los comentarios por correo electrónico deben enviarse a publiccomments@washoeschools.net.

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Reunión de la Junta Directiva del Distrito Escolar del Condado de Washoe

Haga clic aquí para ver la agenda de la reunión.
Vea la reproducción de la reunión.

¿Qué ocurrió en esta reunión?

Administradores Aprobado la Agenda de Consentimiento

Los puntos destacados del orden del día son:

• Several appointments for Board of Trustees members to councils and committees
• Approval of the 2025 Second Quarter Report of Average Daily Attendance and Pupil-Teacher Ratios
• Renewal of the charter agreement with Sierra Nevada Academy Charter School
• Varias instalaciones

Explore el orden del día consensuado aquí.

Trustees Discussed the Alignment of Academics for the 2025-26 School Year to Adopt a Targeted Approach to Improve the Quality of Education in Support of the District’s Strategic Plan

 Superintendent Ernst and staff provided an update on aligning academics for the 2025-2026 school year to improve the quality of education in support of the District’s strategic plan. Staff provided an overview of the process, including reviewing capabilities and contracts, reviewing the organizational model, and providing thoughtful analysis.

An organizational design compass was also outlined, with items such as organizational alignment, focused leadership, financial stewardship, alignment with guiding principles, continuous improvement, and improving operational efficiencies.

The 2025-2026 organizational model will include chiefs of Secondary Education, Elementary Education, Student Development and Success, and Student Services. Next steps include continued change management and engagement with employees, repeating the process for other areas within the District, ensuring strong transitions and cross-departmental collaboration, and monitoring, evaluating, and adjusting to ensure alignment with goals.

Explore la presentación.

Trustees Received a Presentation on Progress Made on Strategic Plan Pillars

 Trustees received a presentation on progress made on the pillars of the District’s strategic plan. Highlights included:

• Pillar A: Strong Curriculum and Instruction: (1) Supports Highest Needs Schools, (2) High Quality Instructional Materials in Use, (3) Professional Learning for Educators
• Pillar B: Strong Partnerships among Families, Schools, and Community: (1) Communication with Families, (2) School Choice, (3) Parent Teacher Home Visits, (4) Community Partnerships and Collocated Services
• Pillar C: Elevating Educators: (1) Began 2024-25 with a teacher in every classroom, (2) streamlined recruitment, licensing, benefit and other HR processes, (3) Professional learning for administrators and teachers
• Pillar D: (1) Culture of Excellence and Accountability: Launched new predictive analytics dashboard for graduation monitoring, (2) Hundreds of data visualizations provided to support planning and monitoring, (3) Needs assessment of central office services (focus groups, survey) to identify strengths and areas to improve customer service.

Explore la presentación.

Trustees Accepted the PreK-8 Study and to Provide Direction to the Superintendent to Implement Recommendations with new PreK-5 Facilities on Pine Middle School and Traner Middle School Campuses

Trustees approved the PreK-8 study and proceeded with the recommendation for the construction of new PreK-5 elementary schools to house the Smithridge, Dodson, Duncan, Lemelson, and/or neighboring schools. These new facilities would meet current District standards and would be master planned with flexibility for expansion to PreK-8.

Community engagement included the PreK-8 steering committee, engaging principals, conducting teacher and family focus groups, student engagement, and community meetings. Research and case studies also factored into the decisions.

Key findings include that PreK-8 has merit, as Nevada PreK-8 students grew from 5,600 to 29,000+ in 15 years, with the majority in the charter sector. Sixth grade ELA and math proficiency trended higher, likely due to the transition year between elementary and middle schools, and rates of chronic absenteeism at Title I schools is consistently lower among PreK-8 vs. Pre-K-5 and grades 6-8. Operational feasibility was reconfirmed at Pine and Traner Middle Schools.

PreK-8, done correctly, requires increased staffing and costs, with adjustments for additional teachers and additional per-pupil costs. Additionally, based on community input, PreK-8 may not be right for Pine or Traner due to vocal, organized opposition and the concern of the perception of safety for younger students in a PreK-8 environment.

The recommendation of the Committee is to close Pine Middle School in 2026, and Traner Middle School in 2029, to enable construction of new PreK-5 elementary schools to house the Smithridge, Duncan, Dodson, Lemelson, and/or neighboring schools, consistent with design standards, incorporating flexible design for future addition of grades 6-8, and if such expansion occurs, planned physical separation by age and separate entrances.

Explore la presentación.

Trustees Approved the Temporary Closure of Pine Middle School

Trustees approved the temporary closure of Pine Middle School, in accordance with Administrative Regulation 7087, at the beginning of the 2026-27 school year in order to reconstruct the PreK-5 facility at that location.

Explore the regulation.

Trustees Received a Presentation on the Guinn Center Report on School Funding in Nevada

Highlights of the presentation from the Guinn Center included:

• Advocating for strategic funding based on the report
• Advocating for equity-driven funding using weights for students who may need additional support
• Navigating gaps and need for improvement regarding school resources and funding following the pandemic

Explore the presentation and report.

Trustees Received an Update on the Legislative Session and the Priorities of the Washoe County School District.

The District’s contracted lobbying firm presented a preview of the upcoming legislative session. Highlights from the presentation included:

• Education remains a top priority, and there will be several proposed policies that affect School District business.
• There is overlap in competing visions in education found within the topics of expanding funding for pre-k, eliminating extraneous reporting, and expanded accountability, among other topics.
• There is ambiguity surrounding the WCSD budget allocation regarding the 2025-2027 Governor’s Recommended K-12 Budget.

Explore the presentation and the legislative platform.

Student Representative Report

Entre los aspectos más destacados del informe figuran:

• Requesting a presentation on developing new CTE schools due to concerns in funding with the current CTE schools
• Assisting setting up a student representative for the Lander County Board
• Actively ready to provide student voice for the district and encouraging others to call upon student opinions

Trustee Report

Entre los aspectos más destacados del informe figuran:

• Serving as a judge for the “We the people” state competition between eight schools
• Various school visits, events, and activities across the District
• WCSD teacher from Vaughn Middle School, Denise Trakas, receiving the Presidential Award in Excellence in Science and Mathematics

Informe del Superintendente

Entre los aspectos más destacados del informe figuran:

• Serving as a keynote speaker for the Northern Nevada Literacy Counsel on a pilot program to engage students

Comentarios del público

• Urge for more support and hiring for special education teachers based on current challenges educators are facing
• Updates from the Nevada Museum of Art regarding opportunities and professional development resources for educators

The next Meeting of the Board of Trustees is scheduled for February 11, 2024, at 2:00 p.m.