Jeff Horn, executive director of the Clark County Association of School Administrators and Professional-Technical Employees, responds to a question during an interview in the Slaughter House fitness room at Mission High School Wednesday, April 20, 2022.
Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024 | 5:06 p.m.
Clark County School District employees are emphasizing the need for a thorough, transparent search for a new superintendent to replace Jesus Jara, driven by concern over a School Board agenda item to appoint a new leader on the same day that Jara is presumed to finalize his departure.
The Clark County Association of School Administrators and Professional-Technical Employees and the National Education Association of Southern Nevada issued statements today stressing the need for extensive vetting that takes input from inside and outside the district and considers local and national candidates to take the helm.
The administrators union, which includes principals, said it opposes the “unilateral” appointment of Deputy Superintendent Brenda Larsen-Mitchell that it says the Feb. 7 School Board agenda suggests. Larsen-Mitchell, a 30-year veteran of CCSD, is currently Jara’s next-in-command.
The agenda doesn’t say if the appointment would be interim or permanent. It described the item as “discussion and possible action to appoint Brenda Larsen-Mitchell as Superintendent upon the conclusion of Jesus F. Jara serving in such capacity, and direct Board Counsel to negotiate an employment agreement with Brenda Larsen-Mitchell or her designee to serve as Superintendent.” The district did not immediately return a call seeking clarification.
The district announced Jara’s presumed departure Wednesday.
“If a school principal must participate in a rigorous selection process with multiple rounds of interviews, why would the vetting process be any less rigorous for the top administrator of the fifth-largest school district in the country?” said Jeff Horn, a former CCSD principal who is now the executive director of the administrators union.
The National Education Association of Southern Nevada or NEA-SN, which represents some CCSD teachers, said a broad search is vital.
“While many will try, and have begun already, we cannot let politics involve itself in this decision,” the union said. “Our kids deserve better than that.”
A community-led petition for an expansive search has started gathering momentum online. The change.org petition similarly said that “our children deserve nothing but the best.”
“The new superintendent may be local or even currently serving as deputy within our district. However, it is crucial that we do not rush this decision or limit ourselves to familiar faces without exploring all potential candidates thoroughly,” the petition said. “Our children’s education should never be compromised due to lack of diligence or thoroughness in such a significant decision-making process.”
CCSD has been plagued in recent years by stubbornly low student achievement, violence in schools, high teacher vacancies and other personnel turnover, poor labor relations, friction on the School Board, and other dramas like a crippling cyberattack last fall.
Jara did not give a reason for his “conditional resignation” in a letter to School Board President Evelyn Garcia Morales on Tuesday. He said his resignation would be conditioned on the board accepting an amendment to his contract that would grant a buyout of one year of his $395,000 salary, plus the value of benefits and unused sick and vacation time. The resignation would be effective Feb. 21.
If the Board, which oversees Jara as its sole employee, does not accept his resignation, it could consider terminating Jara “for convenience,” or no given reason. That would entail a larger severance package that pays him all remaining salary and the value of benefits through his current contract’s June 2026 end date.
NEA-SN encouraged the School Board to select a good interim superintendent, then immediately launch a longer search for candidates.
“Our educators, students, parents and communities deserve a superintendent who can rebuild trust and operate with transparency. Given the last several years, that likely means finding someone outside of CCSD,” the association said. “A new and fresh approach to CCSD would offer our educators, many of whom are one bad day away from leaving the district, some optimism and hope, which is desperately needed.”
The Clark County Education Association also wants community input. The other teachers union says a strong idea of the qualifications for the next leader is needed.
The administrators did not speak against Larsen-Mitchell personally. Horn said what they oppose is the process.
CCEA has called out Larsen-Mitchell by name and said she will be the same as Jara, a union foe.
“It will be a continued example of failed leadership,” CCEA president Marie Neisess said at a Thursday news conference reacting to Jara’s announcement.
“We’re not prepared to suggest a particular person as much as we think, for the first time, there needs to be a discussion around what should be the minimum qualifications for somebody to run this school district,” said CCEA Executive Director John Vellardita.
Vellardita, formerly an ally of Jara, said the state needs uniform minimum standards for superintendents. He referred to Jara — who started his career as a biology teacher and later earned a doctorate in education and climbed administrative ranks in his home state of Florida before coming to CCSD in 2018 — as “a gym coach.”
“You can’t hire somebody who was a gym coach to be the superintendent of the fifth-largest district in the country and if you try, we’re going to stop it,” he said.
