Clark County School District Superintendent Jesus Jara responds to a question during a CCSD news conference on school safety at Durango High School Thursday, July 28, 2022. CCSD Police Chief Henry Blackeye is at right.
Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022 | 2 a.m.
The Clark County School District is settling Superintendent Jesus Jara’s claims of retaliation and harassment for $95,000 in attorney’s fees.
According to a tentative settlement agreement added Friday to the agenda for the Thursday School Board meeting, “The Board and Dr. Jara now desire to resolve their differences in an effort to move forward and to be able to singularly focus on the success of the District’s students and, therefore, have reached a preliminary agreement as set forth herein pending the Board’s approval at an upcoming Board meeting.”
The Board is set to approve the agreement during the consent agenda segment of next week’s meeting. Consent agenda items are typically approved in a single motion without separate discussion.
According to the agreement, “the Board shall promptly pay all of Dr. Jara’s attorney’s fees and costs not to exceed $95,000.”
The settlement is not an admission of liability on either side.
The case started days after the School Board, on a 4-3 vote, fired Jara in October 2021 “for convenience,” meaning it didn’t have to give a specific reason. On Nov. 5, Jara’s personal attorney sent the School Board a letter claiming that some members of the Board, which oversees Jara, had subjected the superintendent to a hostile work environment. Through his lawyer, Jara sought $2 million in compensation.
The Board reversed its termination vote about three weeks later, again on a 4-3 split. Now-Board President Irene Cepeda, who had initially voted for Jara’s ouster, revived the item and voted to rescind the firing before it could go into effect. During a meeting that lasted until about 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 19, Cepeda said she knew “for a fact” that four trustees had made “multiple unethical communications” that broke open meetings law. She did not elaborate.
During the same meeting, the Board also agreed, on the same split, to spend up to $100,000 on an outside consultant to investigate Jara’s harassment allegations. And the termination reversal did not eliminate Jara’s claim.
The Board and Jara spent a full day in mediation in February to resolve the issue, but were unsuccessful, the settlement agreement states.
The agreement includes a clause that the Board and Jara release a public statement that emphasizes a mutual desire to “move forward in a manner conducive to the benefit of the District’s students and public education in Clark County, Nevada.”
That statement, in full, says that “the Clark County School District Board of Trustees and Superintendent Dr. Jesus Jara collectively reached an agreement to move forward. Our hope is to proceed collaboratively, allowing us to fully focus on our greatest priority, serving students and improving student outcomes. There is so much work to do, but if we focus on supporting our students, families, staff, and community, we are positive we will continue to move in the right direction together.”
Jara started at CCSD in June 2018. His base salary is $320,000 a year. His contract is up for possible renewal in January 2023.
