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. 9th 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, March 10th, 2026
Washoe County School District Board of Trustees Meeting
Click here to see the meeting agenda.
Watch the meeting playback.
Trustees Approved the Consent Agenda
Consent agenda highlights include:
- Appointment of a District counselor representative to the Student Attendance Advisory Committee
- Acceptance of the Budget Transfer Report for January 2026
- Approval of Board Policy 9300 – Reporting of Fraud, Waste, or Abuse
- Several facilities items
Explore the consent agenda here.
Trustees Received a Status Update on the 2026-27 Budget Process, Including Additional NIAA-Sanctioned Sports, Reimbursement of District Assessment Software Costs, and Took Action to Preserve Learning Assistant Positions at 1- and 2-Star Schools and 3-Star Collaborative Schools
Trustees received a status update on the 2026-27 budget process. Highlights from the presentation included:
- As of January 2026, there is $5.7 million dollar budget reduction plan to resolve the FY2027 deficit.
- Plans to fund the Early Childhood Innovative Literacy Program, which was cut from the budget in the 2025 legislative session, will now be potentially funded by the recently announced competitive "Early Childhood and Readiness" grant in FY2027.
- AB398 initiative delivers $45 million annually to support "hard-to-fill" teaching positions statewide, with the State Interim Finance Committee approving district allocations on February 19, 2026, with $6.9 allocated specifically for Washoe County.
- WCSD plans to use the Nevada Ready Pre-K Grant, which plans to be awarded prior to the end of this school year, to cover additional pre-K seats for FY27 and fund additional support/administrative staff.
Trustees also received and provided direction on revisiting the following policies during the next budget review:
- Policy of a portion of school consolidation savings for high-needs schools for the next budget cycle (next fiscal year).
- Inclusion of early childhood enrollment in staffing guidelines.
- Analysis of guest teacher pay potential expansion of Medicaid. reimbursements for school services.
- Revision of future school calendars.
Highlights from these board-requested analyses included:
- Analysis of reallocating savings demonstrated allocations for distributing savings to both 1- and 2-star schools is not enough to provide meaningful support to schools.
- The proposed remedy to the shortage of reallocation is support via school consolidation which will allow for combined school enrollments to achieve additional supports (i.e., 21-hour per week clerical aide).
- Board recommended additional consideration and analysis for requested analysis #1 (partnership with affected associations, on administrative and student support positions at schools with high needs, with a focus on using a portion of the. Savings form the reduction of our school portfolio) based on the presented allocations to be focused on quality vs. equity.
- Trustees dwelled on the importance of understanding that the numbers presented for this item are perceptions and it's important to consider the variability involved with the tracking/balancing of the budget.
Explore the presentation.
Trustees Approved the Grant Award from the Gillemot Foundation for the Expansion of Aviation Education
Trustees approved a grant award from the Gillemot Foundation to expand aviation education across Washoe County School District, with a special focus in the North Valleys region. The grant amount is $1,330,000.
Explore the grant award and the presentation.
Trustees Presented a Proclamation Honoring March 2026 as Nutrition Services Month
Trustees presented a proclamation honoring March 2026 as Nutrition Services Month in the District.
Explore the proclamation.
Trustees Presented a Proclamation Honoring March 2026 as Women's History Month
Trustees presented a proclamation honoring March 2026 as Women's History Month in the District.
Explore the presentation.
Trustees Received an Update on the Progress Made on Strategic Plan Goal 2: Student Voice and Advocacy
Highlights of the presentation included:
- A study focused on the analysis of club participation observed an association of a positive correlation between club participation and better chronic absenteeism and higher GPA.
- A priority of focusing on expansion of clubs and activities are supported by student climate data items (large increase in interest across relevant items) and the expansion from 300 clubs last winter to up to 449 clubs with student participation.
- Based on the most recent student climate results, which represented 30,172 students in WCSD, safety and bullying perceptions improved by 3 percentage points.
- Provided qualitative and quantitative reports of elementary feeder programs improving the transition process between elementary and middle school across eight middle schools with plans to increase to 10 schools in the Spring.
Explore the presentation.
Trustees Approved Recommendations of the Zoning Advisory Committee to Modify Enrollment Boundaries of Certain Schools
Trustees approved the recommendation of the Zoning Advisory Committee to modify enrollment boundaries of several schools, effective at the beginning of the 2027-28 school year. These schools include Corbett Elementary, Booth Elementary, Echo Loder Elementary, Smithridge Elementary, Veterans Memorial Elementary, Vaughn Middle, Damonte Ranch High, and Wooster High Schools.
Explore the presentation.
Student Representative Report
Report highlights included:
- At the last student board meeting, the focus was on school counseling and the importance of school counselors.
- Used the report to use a moment of recognition for school counselors in the district.
Trustees Report
Report highlights included:
- Several trustees participated in Nevada Reading week across multiple WCSD schools.
- Shouted out Incline High School's presentation to middle schoolers, which was hosted by high school students, to share highlights of the medical and engineering programs offered at the school.
- Trustee Westlake attended an advocacy event at Debbie Smith CTE for keeping GATE in schools and commended students for speaking out.
Superintendent's Report
Report highlights included:
- President Alexander and Superintendent Joe Ernst met with a group of business leaders to link efforts to support the WCSD.
- Additional shoutouts, participation, and support for Nevada reading week.
- Special thanks to Kyle Kemp for work on the district performance framework committee.
The next Meeting of the Board of Trustees is scheduled for April 14, 2026, at 2:00 p.m.
