Miranda Alam/Special to the Sun
Attendees hold up signs during a rally held in support of more education funding by the Clark County Education Association at the Lloyd D. George U.S. Court House in Las Vegas on Saturday, April 27, 2019.
Wednesday, May 24, 2023 | 2 a.m.
CCSD teachers union
State records show that the largest teachers union in the Clark County School District operated without an active business license for nearly two years, leading the district to question if it could engage in contract negotiations and adding another crack to the fractured relationship with the Clark County Education Association.
Until filing a certificate of reinstatement last week with the Nevada secretary of state’s office, CCEA had not filed its annual listing of officers with the state since August 2020, according to secretary of state records. This listing must be filed with its annual license renewal, according to the secretary of state’s office.
Until the renewal, the license had been revoked, records indicate. The state revokes a business entity’s status after it has been in default on its license for a year. State records suggest that CCEA went into default in September 2021.
CCEA Executive Director John Vellardita and a spokesperson for the union did not return multiple messages requesting comment.
“Before we negotiate, we need to ensure that those we are negotiating with are properly, legally recognized in the state of Nevada and (with) the federal government,” said district spokesman Tod Story.
CCSD has not yet started contract negotiations this year with CCEA because it is waiting on additional documents related to CCEA’s standing as a business entity, he said. The current contract expires June 30, the end of the state’s fiscal year.
David Hall, CCSD’s chief negotiator, sent Vellardita a letter May 11 saying it was unclear about whether the union was properly recognized as a labor organization with the state and federal government, as there was no current name filing with the Nevada secretary of state for “Clark County Education Association.”
“Certainly I hope and anticipate that everything regarding these matters is in order, but I’m sure you can see the urgency in verifying this information given that we are amidst negotiations,” Hall wrote in the letter, which the Sun received through a public records request. “If there has been some oversight or error it could potentially place both of our organizations in a compromised position if we are negotiating and CCEA isn’t a ‘Bargaining Unit’ per se.”
Hall requested that the union send the district its filings with the Nevada secretary of state; documents related to CCEA’s 501(c)(5) status such as tax forms with the Internal Revenue Service; its annual reports to the state Government Employee-Management Relations Board; and any other documents indicating that the state or federal governments properly recognizes CCEA as a labor organization.
These documents could serve as backup that CCEA has been operating properly, Story said.
CCEA has not given CCSD these documents, he said.
Additionally, CCSD filed a complaint against CCEA with the Government Employee-Management Relations Board over the license issue and temporarily reserved the corporation name “Clark County Education Association.” Secretary of state records show that the district paid $25 to hold the name through July 19.
Because CCSD reserved its full name, the union renewed its license May 17 using the acronym “CCEA.” State records show that the union was formed in 1966.
Emails between Hall and CCEA’s lawyer show that the union was rankled by CCSD reserving its longtime business name.
“It is clear that CCSD has no legal authority to operate a business under the name Clark County Education Association, as that would be interference with the administration of an Employee Organization in violation of (state law),” attorney Steve Sorenson wrote in messages that the Sun received upon request. “Accordingly, it would appear that this reservation was a false or forged instrument of filing.”
Hall replied that the district reserved the name to “protect the teachers at CCSD” and did not want anyone else to snag the name while CCEA’s license was revoked. He said the district would legally return the name to CCEA “in due course,” then asked Sorenson again for the group’s tax and organizational documentation.
While the business license is again active, Story points to the related pending complaint with the employee-management relations board and an apparently loose end. In its complaint, also filed May 17, the district says that as an employer, it can request information it deems necessary for negotiations.
“The district must negotiate with a legal and appropriate employee organization and/or labor union, and the district appropriately deemed the requested information necessary and relevant to negotiations and the district’s ability to negotiate with CCEA,” the district wrote.
The union has sparred publicly with CCSD brass over the past several months.
In January, union leadership sent a memo to its membership criticizing CCSD’s use of bonuses rather than permanent wage increases. At the time, the district was floating hefty bonuses for teachers, support staff and administrators at 23 select elementary schools, known as the “Transformation Network,” as incentives to turn around the schools’ chronically low scores on standardized reading tests. Superintendent Jesus Jara responded with a staffwide email saying that CCEA had outright rejected the Transformation Network and other bonuses or suggested impossible terms.
Not long after, CCEA filed a complaint with the Government Employee-Management Relations Board claiming that CCSD unilaterally changed working conditions by classifying certain schools as Transformation Network schools. The board rejected the complaint May 8. According to the decision, the union’s claims were “not yet ripe” as the classification was not a done deal.
In April, CCEA announced a vote of no confidence against Jara and his ability to effectively spend the proposed influx of state funding for public schools.
This month, the union said it had taken a community poll that showed the majority of 600 “likely voters” in the area support firing Jara. The union followed that up last week with a resolution calling for Jara’s resignation.
