Clark County School District Superintendent Jesus Jara waits for the start of a school board meeting as teachers protest outside the Clark County School District Education Center Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. The Clark County School District and the Clark County Education Association, the teachers union, are in contract negotiations.
Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024 | 9:11 p.m.
Clark County School District Deputy Superintendent Brenda Larsen-Mitchell attends a meeting held to vote on Superintendent Jesus Jara's resignation proposal at Henderson City Hall Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. Larsen-Mitchell was appointed as interim superintendent Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, after the Clark County School District board voted to accept Jara's resignation.
Clark County School District Superintendent Jesus Jara’s resignation and severance package were approved tonight.
As of 5 p.m. Friday, Jara will no longer be at the helm of CCSD, ending nearly six years with the nation's fifth-largest school district. He will leave with a $250,000 lump sum payment.
His top deputy Brenda Larsen-Mitchell will step in as interim superintendent.
The School Board voted 5-2 to amend Jara’s contract to allow him to resign promptly with the payout, with members Linda Cavazos and Brenda Zamora voting no. The board voted 5-2 to appoint Larsen-Mitchell, with Cavazos and Irene Bustamante Adams voting against.
Jara was not present at the meeting.
Commenters — with several teachers among them — largely were critical of Jara and did not support giving him a payout, citing the district's many controversies and struggles during Jara’s tenure. Some pointed out that teachers and other employees who step down do not get severance packages.
Jara initially submitted a “conditional resignation” Jan. 30. The Board met Feb. 7 to consider it but did not agree to the terms Jara originally sought: $395,000, equal to a year’s salary, plus the value of unused benefits and time off. The Board also declined at that time to terminate him for convenience — or no given reason — as that would have cost close to $1 million in a salary buyout alone through his earlier planned contract ending in June 2026. Termination for cause was never an option for the board, which oversees the superintendent as its only employee.
Board members opted instead to terminate Jara for convenience, pending negotiation of alternative exit terms.
Neither Jara nor the school board have articulated exactly why he should leave or why they renegotiated his contract to allow for the quarter-million-dollar severance for a voluntary exit rather than the initial direction to terminate. But the school board has called it an “amicable separation.”
Tonight’s board discussion on whether to accept Jara’s resignation offer was relatively brief compared to the public comment period. The more complicated discussion came when the board next took up the appointment of an interim leader.
The public was mixed on their support for Larsen-Mitchell, though she got more backing as an interim superintendent than Jara had in general.
Chief financial officer Jason Goudie was also under consideration; while observers were split, many pointed out that he did not have classroom experience.
Larsen-Mitchell has been with CCSD for 30 years and has been a teacher, site administrator and central administrator. She currently oversees curriculum and instruction.
"As I have throughout my career as an educator, I will continue to model passion and enthusiasm for education," Larsen-Mitchell said in a statement Thursday night after being appointed to the position.
Cavazos moved to appoint both Larsen-Mitchell and Goudie as co-interim superintendents, a possibility that was not explicitly suggested on the agenda and that sent the meeting into recess while board attorney Nicole Malich conferenced with the two administrators in another room. The motion died when Malich reported back that they said they wanted a single leader in place and were not interested in serving together.
Bustamante Adams suggested Goudie as the sole interim superintendent, but the motion failed after he directly declined the role to the Board.
The Board briefly started discussing the process of selecting the next top hire, comparing a national search with looking only locally or within the state. Larsen-Mitchell will not be excluded from applying for the permanent position.
A side-by-side of methodologies, offered by Board President Evelyn Garcia Morales, estimated that a national search could take three to six months and cost between $60,000 and $100,000, using the help of a search firm. A narrower search limited to the Las Vegas area or within the state could only take one or two months and cost less than $20,000 by advertising directly.
The Board did not commit to a path and will resume the discussion in March.
