Complaint alleges School Board again violating open meetings law in redo of superintendent appointment

By Paul Takahashi

Friday, May 31, 2013 | 2:48 p.m.

Former Clark County School Board candidate Kevinn Donovan filed a second complaint against the Clark County School District on Thursday, alleging a meeting scheduled for Monday to redo Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky's appointment was not properly noticed.

Donovan and Michael Bluestein each filed a complaint earlier this month with the state Attorney General's Office against the School Board after it unanimously appointed Skorkowsky as the district's next superintendent. Both Las Vegas Valley residents argued the district violated Nevada's open meeting law because the agenda item on the day Skorkowsky was appointed was not specific enough.

The School Board decided last week to conduct a special meeting Monday in which it would rescind Skorkowsky's appointment, conduct public comment, conduct another vote to reappoint Skorkowsky and discuss contract negotiations. Board President Carolyn Edwards said the meeting was not an admission of wrongdoing, but that it was being done in an abundance of caution to ensure transparency.

However, Donovan is taking issue with the special meeting because the district has not posted any backup material online relating to Skorkowsky's experience in the district.

"There's no application and no resume. How can the public have an opinion about the guy?" Donovan said. "Yeah, he's been in the district for 25 years, but what did he do?"

Donovan, who did not attend any of the district's 14 public input meetings on the superintendent search, said he was not in favor of a national search but would like to see the School Board pick its next superintendent from a selection of qualified candidates.

"For me as a parent, this is a decision that impacts my children for a very long time, said Donovan, who has four children in the district. "I want the best, most qualified superintendent. You don't know who the best candidates are unless you take job applications."