Latin Chamber of Commerce President Peter Guzman, left, and Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, second to the left, take turns speaking at an event hosted by the chamber on Oct. 5, 2023.
Sunday, March 17, 2024 | 2 a.m.
The Latin Chamber of Commerce has long had a positive relationship with whoever occupies the superintendent post at Clark County School District, said chamber leader Peter Guzman, and he would like to weigh in on the next person in the top spot — whoever that person is.
“We want to have a voice in” selecting CCSD’s next chief educator, Guzman said. “The business community expects us, as members of the Latin Chamber of Commerce, to be involved in everything that affects everyday life because it ends up affecting people’s businesses.”
Almost half of CCSD’s pupils are Latino. And they’re all potentially Las Vegas’ future workforce.
Knowing that CCSD graduates are the backbone of the local economy is why business leaders like Guzman are closely watching the hiring process to fill the position Jesus Jara vacated last month when he resigned after nearly six challenging years.
“Clark County School District is the No. 1 pipeline that prepares our students to be career- and college-ready. That means ready to take on the challenges of the workforce,” said Cara Clarke, a spokeswoman for the Vegas Chamber. “We not only need talented young people, but we need them properly educated for them to take on these roles. And right now, that’s not happening.”
Several community organizations collaborated on a letter this month encouraging the School Board, which hires and supervises the superintendent as its only employee, to consider a national search for Jara’s successor. Eight of the civic groups that signed on to the letter were local business and industry groups.
The coalition said a national search could include local candidates, but the process should be transparent and allow for robust community participation.
“As you undoubtedly appreciate, the selection of the next superintendent will have a major effect on the people we represent and our community at large,” the letter read. “In fact, choosing the next superintendent may be one of the most consequential decisions you will make for years to come.”
Vegas Chamber President and CEO Mary Beth Sewald followed up with the Board at its March 6 meeting by saying the CCSD superintendent is one of the most important leaders in Nevada because that person has a profound impact on every aspect of the community and economy.
She said Board members need to ask incisive questions of the next would-be leader’s qualifications: about their districts’ math and reading proficiency and high school graduation rates, their reputations when it comes to building trust and partnerships, and how they inspire employees to do their best.
“Current levels of student achievement at CCSD are simply not measuring up. Student achievement should be the core focus of the superintendent conversation,” Sewald said. “Currently, insufficient numbers of our students are graduating career- or college-ready. This is harming students and putting them at academic and economic disadvantages. K-12 is the main workforce development pipeline in Nevada. If the pipeline is broken, it will hold us back as a community.”
Amber Stidham, chief strategy officer for the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance, told the Board that the regional development authority’s mission is to attract diverse businesses and job opportunities.
Public education is important to the organization. The superintendent is at the top of one of the nation’s largest school districts, which has a budget of more than $3 billion.
“This is an executive position,” she said. “This is really important to our community.”
The Board voted that night to hire a search firm to help gather community feedback on the next superintendent – stopping short of committing to a national versus local search, but agreeing to select a firm to help the Board determine how far and wide to advertise the position.
Guzman, the Latin Chamber’s president and CEO, said a national search that also considers candidates close to home can recognize local talent that might be overlooked, and, if the School Board does decide to hire from within, gives that promoted leader credibility — proof that they were competitive, and that the job wasn’t handed to them.
He thinks the ideal superintendent is “someone who understands diversity. Someone who can think outside the box, can think creatively, because I don’t think every kid learns the same way, tests the same way.”
Clarke said the Vegas Chamber has also long enjoyed a good working relationship with the superintendent and been active in shaping and supporting education policy.
She said the chamber has backed the state’s per-pupil funding model that legislators put in place in 2019, supported new taxes to fund K-12 schools, spoke in favor of creating a teachers college at what is now Nevada State University, and joined task forces on how to improve education delivery and district business operations. Most recently, the chamber supported the introduction of nonvoting appointed members on CCSD’s School Board.
“We need a leader that teachers and support staff are inspired by. We need somebody who parents can trust, somebody who can work collaboratively throughout the community, somebody with a vision and the leadership skills to implement that vision — not to mention manage the tremendous operational side of the school district,” Clarke said. “That’s somebody with a lot of different skill sets.”
That person, she said, should be an “extraordinary leader.”
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