Clark County School District Superintendent Jesus Jara speaks during the 2023 State of the Schools address at Resorts World Las Vegas, Friday, Jan. 27, 2023.
Saturday, June 10, 2023 | 2 a.m.
The Clark County School District School Board will research its options now that it is set to become a hybrid of elected and appointed members under a new state law.
Current members were noncommittal on details, but unanimously agreed Thursday that “with the intent to ensure that we protect the children of our school district, which we are entrusted to protect, that we research our options as it pertains to the implementation of AB175,” said School Board President Evelyn Garcia Morales.
“Where our intention lies is not to break the law, but our intention is always to support the children of Clark County,” added board member Katie Williams.
Gov. Joe Lombardo signed a law this month directing the cities of Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas, and the Clark County Commission, to each appoint a nonvoting advisory member to the board. Assembly Bill 175, a bipartisan effort that only affects CCSD, becomes law in July.
The Legislature has considered hybrid boards since 2021, and convened its Legislative Joint Interim Standing Committee on Education last year to discuss the possibility during the legislative off-year.
Reformers cited the seven-member board’s open fighting and suggested expanding diversity of thought. Opponents, current members among them, said the move stifles democracy and accountability.
The Clark County Education Association is ready for board reform. The teachers union supported hybrids last year, and more lately, has been at odds with CCSD leadership, especially Superintendent Jesus Jara.
Jim Frazee, union vice president and a high school social studies teacher, said the law wasn’t aimed at any individuals but the board’s apparent inability to manage Jara, its one employee.
Frazee said CCEA looks forward to working with local governments to find qualified appointees.
He said the hybrid board law, and the fact that people signed an unsuccessful petition last year supporting CCSD breaking apart into municipal school districts, should be a wake-up call.
“You do not have to like the fact that this bill is now law,” he said. “I would suggest that you understand why people felt it necessary to make it law.”
Board told to self-evaluate
The board reviewed the results Wednesday of its extensive recent culture and climate study.
The outside study, which the district commissioned earlier this year, showed that people inside and around the district largely took a dim view of its board and top administrative leadership.
Garcia Morales said the study required “vulnerability and honesty” from participants.
“Now what I'm really looking forward to is what the snapshot will be moving forward. I think there’s a lot of hope and I believe there is a lot to celebrate in our school district, as this report indicates,” she said. “We have choices every day to continue to be courageous and act courageously on behalf of our students.”
Consultants from the California-based Public Consulting Group firm contracted to conduct the study, gathered data through an online staff survey, interviews, focus groups, observations of board meetings and reviews of board documents and social media. CCSD paid Public Consulting Group about $274,000 to complete the study, which queried staff, parents, students and community members. It received about 11,700 responses in the staff survey alone.
Teachers were most likely to pan the district for its accountability for results, transparency in communication, and how it values staff needs.
“The first time I read it, it was hard-hitting, but it was honest,” Jara said.
Anna d’Entremont, an associate manager in education for the firm, said its first recommendation is that the School Board take accountability for itself, starting with a self-evaluation.
“We couldn't find any indication that that was happening now, and would encourage that to happen,” she said. “As you’re holding others accountable, holding yourself accountable first sends the message that you’re a district that holds themselves accountable.”
This study was a big first step, she added.
Mary Ellen Hannon, another education specialist at the firm, said study authors reviewed School Board meetings from fall 2021 and this spring to compare and contrast.
In fall 2021, the board had different members and was embroiled in a split campaign to fire Jara, a termination that it reversed within weeks.
Hannon said she kept hearing positive things about the current board, so she wanted to see the board during a time that critics were referencing.
“Some of the perception of the staff about the board is really about the old board,” she said.
When consultants asked staffers if they had seen the current board, “they're like, no, we stopped watching this because it was embarrassing to us and was really bringing us down.”
Most of the five pages of recommendations in the resulting 50-page report focus on communication and outreach, as “perceptions from every stakeholder group were that transparency is more the exception than the norm.”
CCSD launches summer reading challenge
CCSD is again encouraging reading during summer break with its annual Summer Reading Photo Contest on social media.
The district encourages families to post photos of their children reading on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Posts must be publicly viewable and include the hashtag #ReadWithMeCCSD. Students can be reading a book, magazine, comic book or newspaper, or be listening to an audiobook. The district suggests reading in an interesting setting and reading to pets as some creative ways to keep literacy skills sharp over the summer.
All entries must be submitted before July 26.
