Nevada Ed-Watch: Washoe County School District 9/22/26

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, September 22, 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:

Item 2.03 was pulled from the consent agenda.

• Approval of the award of bid (#115-B-B-03-26-GS) for the custodial supplies for warehouse inventory. 
• Approval of the fiscal year 2026-27 annual report of Average Daily Attendance (ADE) and Pupil-Teacher Rations for grades K-3 for each Elementary School. 
• Several facilities and RFP items

Explore the consent agenda here.

Trustees Received a Presentation on the Entry Plan for Tiffany McMaster, Superintendent of Schools for the Washoe County School District

Trustees received a presentation on the Superintendent's entry plan and priorities for the Washoe County School District.

Highlights of the presentation included: 

• An overview of the five areas of priority in year one of service:
  1) Strong, trusted leadership – Steady, transparent leadership at every level
  2) Clearer ways of working – Simpler systems and improved efficiency
  3) Student Success – Strengthen student outcomes via aligned instruction
  4) Open Communication – Clear communication with staff and families
  5) A District that feels like home – A Culture where students, staff, and families feel safe, seen, heard, and proud to be here. 
• The three primary areas of the framework are: 
  • Collaborate: Ensure common purpose, trust, coordination, and vulnerability
  • Elevate: Strengthen ownership and set the highest standards)
  • Innovate: Adapt and reimagine the future for our students. 

Explore the presentation.

Trustees Approved Action to Consider and Approve the Goals and Objectives for the Annual Contractual Requirement for the Performance Evaluation of Tiffany McMaster

Trustees approved action to consider and approve the goals and objectives for the annual contractual requirement for the performance evaluation of Tiffany McMaster, Washoe County School District Superintendent of Schools, for the 2026-2027 school year.

Highlights of the Presentation: 

• Trustees approved the following goals and objectives: 
  • Goal 1.1: Improve the opportunity for students to share feedback on educational priorities. 
  • Goal 1.2: Improve the opportunity for staff to share feedback on educational priorities 
  • Goal 1.3: Improve the opportunity for families to share feedback on educational priorities. 
  • Goal 1.4: Provide publicly posted updates on major district initiatives. 
  • Goal 1.5: Improve proactive communications and in advance of high impact changes to District staff. 
  • Goal 1.6: Improve stakeholder engagement in high-impact change initiatives. 
  • Goal 1.7: Strengthen belonging and pride by recognizing staff and school successes on a predictable schedule. 
  • Goal 2.1: Support improved instructional leadership in meeting District instructional goals. 
  • Goal 2.2: Demonstrate improved educator capacity to meet the district's instructional expectations. 
  • Goal 2.3: Improve district monitoring and corrective response in ELA and mathematics instruction. 
  • Goal 2.4: Build leadership capacity through a focused and sequenced professional learning plan. 
  • Goal 2.5: Strengthen leaders' skill in evaluation, supervision, and data-informed decision-making through professional learning. 
  • Goal 2.6: Establish consistent districtwide expectations for behavior support and response 
  • Goal 2.7: Strengthen emergency readiness in every school. 
  • Goal 2.9: Establish baseline data and an ongoing data review process for improved staff & student climate, school staff & student safety, and student discipline. 
  • Goal 2.10: Complete the Enterprise Resource Planning conversion without disruption to pay, benefits, or vendor payments. 
  • Goal 2.11: Build district stewardship through completion of the Legislative Council Bureau's corrective action recommendations. 
  • Goal 2.12: Strengthen district staffing through the Legislative Council Bureau's audit-required recruitment and retention plan.
  • Goal 2.13: Build leader knowledge of relevant laws, regulations, and policies. 
  • Goal 3.1: Provide and demonstrate the use of early warning indicator data to middle school leaders to support early interventions with students. 
  • Goal 3.2: Develop a revised strategic plan collaboratively with the community, staff, and students. 
  • Goal 3.3: Position the district on competency-based instruction ahead of the 2027 legislative session. 
  • Goal 3.4: Expand access to high-quality PreK. 
  • Goal 3.5: Improve consistency in the quality in every newly established PreK program. 
  • Goal 3.6: Improve the district's position in shaping state decisions on PreK funding. 
  • Goal 3.7: Establish a single, safe, vetted adoption and review pathway for digital tools. 
  • Goal 3.8: Improve communications to schools and families regarding healthy technology use during the school day. 
  • Goal 3.9: Improve staff's use of artificial intelligence. 
  • Goal 3.10: Increase teacher capacity to use artificial intelligence well. 
  • Goal 3.11: Improve artificial intelligence practices among all staff. 
  • Goal 3.12: Improve community collaboration in FMP decisions. 
  • Goal 3.13: Ensure consistently appearing themes from community feedback related to FMP decisions are incorporated into final FMP decisions.
    

• The goals listed above received an average rating of 3 or higher (on a 1-5 rating scale) across the Board of Trustees for inclusion in the performance evaluation.
• Goals 2.8 (Ensure staff is prepared to meet emergency management, bullying and harassment, and negotiated agreement requirements) and 2.13 (build leader knowledge of relevant laws, regulations and policies) were the only goals that scored below an average of three across the Trustees. 

Explore the areas of focus (superintendent evaluation).

Trustees Received a Presentation and Discussed the Strategic Plan 2023-2026

Trustees received a presentation and discussed the Strategic Plan 2023-2026 final results review, community feedback, and demonstration of a draft Strategic Plan Dashboard.

Highlights of the presentation included:

• Performance across the five goals in the strategic plan were as follows:
  1) Strong Start for Every Child is now at 43.6% (2.2% increase from 2022-2023)
  2) Student Voice and Advocacy is now at 58% (2% increase from 2022-2023)
  3) Safety and Belonging is now at 24.1% (3.6% decrease from 2022-2023)
  4) Academic Growth and Achievement is now at 44.2% (3% increase from 2022-2023)
  5) Empowering all learners for their future experienced a marginal <1% increase (however, since 2022-2023, 5 of the 6 subgoals demonstrated an improvement). 
• The community voice survey captured over 1,300 responses from families, district staff, community members, and students in the WCSD community.
  From the community voice survey—
  The top three items identified as going well were: 1)Teacher & Staff Quality,  2)School Safety & 3) Positive Culture and Family, Community, and Student Engagement.

The top three items identified as a challenge were: 1) Attracting & Retaining High-Quality Staff, 2) Student Mental Health, Behavior, and Attendance, and 3) Raising Achievement & Closing Gaps.

• Between this board meeting and March 9th, the board will conduct several reviews and revisions and gather additional community feedback before adopting the Strategic Plan by March 9th, 2027. 

Explore the presentation.

Trustees Approved Action to Update the Washoe County School District Legislative Platform for the 2027 Nevada Legislative Session and 2026-2027 Biennium. 

Trustees approved action to update the Washoe County School District Legislative Platform for the 2027 Nevada Legislative Session and 2026-2027 biennium following a presentation from Pinyon Public Affairs. 

Highlights of the presentation included: 

• The presentation included a high-level overview of the trustees' recommendations for the 2027 session: 
  • Pre-K Funding – New language to ensure funding for Pre-K is equivalent to funding for K-12
  • School Counselors – Include school counselors in the list of mental health providers and support personnel 
  • Student Discipline – Give teachers and schools the support needed to maintain a safe and respectful learning environment
  • Star Rating System for Schools with Special Education populations – Amend the NSPF calculation methodology so schools with Special Education programs are not penalized with lower star ratings.

Explore the presentation.

Superintendent Report
Report highlights included:

• Shouting out a teacher who pivoted during a long-term sub situation and provided optimal support to her school.

• Superintendent McMaster visited Westergard Elementary School (where she was once a principal) and shouted out several staff members for their amazing growth and performance. 
• Several additional school visits and staff/school shoutouts.

Trustees Reports
Report highlights included:

• Trustees attended their first family-home visit and shared that they would like to continue the experience.

• Several trustees attended "school walks," which they shared were a great experience with the community. 
• Shoutouts to several WCSD principals who were visited during school visits. 

Student Representative Report

Report highlights included:

• Published the first WCSD board meeting agenda personalized for students on the student advisory board.

Public Comment

Public comment highlights included:

• Concern from the WCSD parent coalition surrounding decisions made at the previous board meeting. 

• Concern about the 9th Street renovations and whether they are the best use of district spending. 
• Concern about the efficacy of the i-Ready assessment and the associated funding used for i-Ready.

The next Meeting of the Board of Trustees is scheduled for October 13th, 2026, at 2:00 p.m.