Running head: CCSD Board of Trustees Meeting Summary and Analysis 1

CCSD Board of Trustees Meeting Summary and Analysis

Brianna Lysne

College of Southern Nevada

Professor Warby

EDU 210

10 March 2017
CCSD Board of Trustees Meeting Summary and Analysis 2

I attended the regular board meeting held by the Clark County School District (CCSD)

Board of Trustees on Thursday, March 9, 2017. This particular meeting seemed a little odd

because of the fact that many of the agenda items and issues were taken out of order. I did get to

see several CCSD school personnel and administration speak in opposition to a proposed

program, making this a very interesting meeting to observe. The majority of the agenda items

were focused on either legislation initiatives and proposed bills happening in the Nevada

legislative session currently in progress or other budget and fiscal concerns involving the school

district. There are three particular issues I would like to summarize and compare to this class

about Nevada school law: one parent complaint, the contentious issue of a student performance

compact, and an issue affecting teacher paychecks.

One of the first noteworthy occurrences of the meeting was when a parent stood to speak

to the Board during the public comment period. This mother addressed the Board regarding a

concern and complaint she had involving one of her sons teachers. The mother expressed that

her son had come home from school distraught after his middle school Math teacher had

proclaimed to the class that she openly supported President Trumps immigration policies and

the teacher supposedly stated that she was in favor of deportation of all illegal immigrants

because they bring drugs and violence into this country. The mother was very concerned that her

son and other students had been exposed to this teachers views and hurtful comments. The

mother ended her speech by saying that she had spoken to the principal already but nothing has

been resolved, which is why she brought the issue to the Boards attention.

Though this issue was not resolved, the situation was comparable to the first paper we

wrote for this class examining teachers rights and dismissal due to speech. There is a fine line

between a teachers right to free speech as an individual and that teachers responsibility to
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remain unbiased and fair in regards to their speech because of their position working with

diverse students. The teacher in question is certainly entitled to her opinions but because she

made these statements to her Math class and they have no educational or discussion merit to the

class, she will most likely be facing disciplinary action and possibly dismissal.

The issue that took up the most time, and had the most feedback and comments, was the

agenda item proposing a partnership with the Nevada Department of Education and CCSD in the

form of a student performance compact. Many CCSD principals, administrators, and teachers

spoke to the Board and asked them to deny this program that would overtake the current

programs and efforts used to improve student and school performances like Turnaround, Zoom,

and Victory. The speakers reasoned that the current measures have already been established and

are slowly showing school improvement, they stressed that we should put our effort into these

programs and helping schools at the local level instead of exposing these struggling schools to

state-level intervention and new unknown programs.

This issue did not directly relate to our textbook or lessons, but I did recognize the

friction that is currently present between local schools and teachers and the big government

measures that are trying to reform education. The teachers and principals who spoke against this

measure were very passionate that we should not invite further bureaucracy and government

intervention before we take the time to let the current measures for improvement show if they are

helping. In the current educational and political climate, there is a lot of attention placed on test

scores and student performance and it was interesting to observe educational professionals

standing against these governmental programs.

One of the final issues that was discussed was a suggestion to adjust the paychecks and

the pay periods for new and returning teachers. The main issue was that new teachers would not
CCSD Board of Trustees Meeting Summary and Analysis 4

receive their first paycheck until September 10th, which was about six weeks after they start

working. The proposed solution would be to adjust pay periods for 2017 and allow new teachers

to receive their first paycheck in August and give them twenty-four pay periods throughout the

2017-2018 school year. In order to adjust this, pay schedule for new teachers, returning teachers

would receive twenty-two pay periods starting the normal date of September 10th. This meant

returning teachers would get fewer paychecks but their pay would stay the same so that all their

checks would be a higher amount. The main concern with this plan is that many teachers would

be confused about their later pay start period and that they would become accustomed to the

higher paychecks which would later level out and decrease for next years term.

This issue of paychecks and income adjustment relates to our course study of

employment and contracts for licensed employees. The presenter stressed that the returning

teachers would lose no income and it would just be allocated in a fewer number of checks

compared to new teachers. The Board had some reservations about approving this measure but

the presenter stressed that this was a time-sensitive matter and if they did not decide on the

adjustment soon the payroll system would not allow for the adjustments. Despite the fact that the

pay would stay the same, I do believe that teachers could have objections to this plan. I think

CCSD can redistribute the paycheck allotments if the contracted pay amounts remain the same

but it does seem like CCSD is being slightly deceptive by adjusting teacher pay like this even if

it is contractually acceptable.

Overall, the CCSD Board of Trustees meeting did tie into some of the key issues

discussed in this education and law course. I observed parent complaint regarding a teachers

statements, school employees and administration fighting against state-level educational reform,

and a proposed change to paychecks and pay periods that would affect both new and returning
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teachers. The laws and ideas weve discussed in this class will affect schools and teachers in

many different ways and, as with all political matters, it is important to stay informed and

actively participate in the process.