Thursday, May 9, 2024 | 2 a.m.
The search for a new Clark County School District superintendent will pick up momentum this month with the expected selection of a search firm to help the school board find the next chief executive.
The school board, which hires and oversees the superintendent, recently set a goal date of Nov. 1 for having a new permanent superintendent in place to succeed Jesus Jara. Jara resigned in February after nearly six, often rocky, years with CCSD.
But before the board hires a superintendent, it first is looking to partner with a firm to guide the hiring process.
Today, the district’s request for proposals — essentially, a want ad posted by the district procurement office — for a search firm closes. This afternoon, the board will meet to review a draft of a rubric that members will use to evaluate those firms with at least those minimum basic qualifications.
On May 15, the board plans to meet to review and rate the potential firms’ proposals and hash out interview topics and questions for search firm finalists.
On May 29, the board is scheduled to meet to interview finalist firms and select the one that will assist in the hiring process. The board expects to have its first meeting with the chosen firm in June to discuss the actual superintendent selection process.
All of the meetings will be open to the public.
The board based the request for proposals off the one used to select the search firm that ultimately led to Jara’s hiring in 2018. The previous document generally said search firm proposals would be evaluated on criteria such as experience and success in conducting similar work; adequacy of resources including personnel and financial stability; depth, breadth and clarity of the proposal; and cost.
If the board’s tentative schedule holds, CCSD will spend about eight months without permanent leadership.
Brenda Larsen-Mitchell, a 30-year veteran of CCSD and deputy superintendent under Jara, is serving as interim superintendent.
Today’s meeting begins at 5 p.m. at the Greer Education Center, 2832 E. Flamingo Road.
UNR boosts CCSD grads
More than 2,000 CCSD seniors will graduate with college credit this year thanks to dual-credit opportunities through UNR’s Collegiate Academy.
The program, which started as a small pilot in 2021, allows students to earn college and high school credit from their high school classrooms at a deep discount. All credits earned transfer seamlessly to any public Nevada college or university and may transfer to colleges outside of Nevada.
Each three-credit course cost $75, with textbooks at no cost.
A UNR freshman, by contrast, would pay $787.50 for a three credit-hours class at in-state tuition rates, in addition to the costs of mandatory university fees and books.
UNR offered dual-credit courses in English, math, economics, psychology, world languages, political science, chemistry and more.
Statewide, 27 high schools participated this year. Seventeen of those schools are in CCSD.
The district and university honored the dual-credit graduates at ceremonies last week.
Doral Academy partners with the Kennedy Center
Doral Academy-Fire Mesa Campus has been chosen as one of only four schools nationwide to participate in the new Changing Education Through the Arts National Pilot Program, which is facilitated by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
The program, which started as a regional initiative in 1999, gives all teachers within a school intensive professional learning to integrate the arts throughout the curriculum.
The collaboration between Doral, which is near Buffalo Drive and Cheyenne Avenue, and the Kennedy Center begins in June.
[email protected] / 702-990-8949 / @HillaryLVSun
