By DR. LARRY MOSES
No one asked me but… Last Thursday I watched the three-ring circus that goes under the name of the Clark County School District Board of Trustees. It was fascinating to watch. It was so entertaining that I passed up my usual evening with Jeopardy. Where else could you see seven incompetent individuals being overmatched by one self-proclaimed dictator? For those of you who missed the fun, let me give you a little update on the adventures, or misadventures, of those elected to run the largest school district in the State of Nevada, and the fifth largest in the United States.
Last spring as the current Superintendent’s contract was ending, this Board extended his contract for one year. In November, the Board fired the Superintendent, and in December, they reversed that decision when the Superintendent pointed out that they owed him nearly seven hundred thousand dollars to buy out the extended contract they had just signed. Oh! By the way, he would sue the District for two million dollars because the Board created a hostile work environment for the poor man. The Superintendent went eye-ball to eye-ball with the Board and the Board blinked, rehiring him in December.
It will be interesting to see if the Board upholds the $400,000 worth of raises the Superintendent gave to his top friends and employees as a parting gift. Surely, this is a budget item that can be vetoed by the Board if they dare appose anything the Superintendent does. The complete defeat of the Board was in evidence when a vote was taken on an issue on Service Level Agreements. The proposal by the Superintendent was a direct violation of NRS 388G.500-810. I watched in fascination as the Board voted 6-1 to approve the proposal made by the Superintendent even though he, his chief financial officer, and one other top District official all indicated that it violated the reorganization law passed by the State Legislature.
The CCSD Board of Trustees, the Superintendent and his aides, as well as many of those who testified Thursday night continually referred to Assembly Bill 469. It is important to understand what is being violated is not a proposed Assembly Bill. It is a Nevada Revised Statue, the law of the State of Nevada, not a bill, but a law. Those who wish to hold the District accountable need to stop referring to an Assembly Bill and reference instead an established law, 388G.500-810. The violation of which is an everyday occurrence within the actions of the Central Office of CCSD.
Less than two months ago the State Board of Education held a joint meeting with the CCSD Board of Trustees indicating that they were upset that the Clark County School Districts was not in compliance with the Nevada Revised Statues and the Nevada Administrative Code dealing with the operation of a large school district within the State of Nevada. It was indicated that the State Board was aware of CCSD’s overt resistance and outright defiance of the laws of the State of Nevada. In that meeting there was a vailed threat of action on the part of the State Board of Education if the District did not move to comply with the law as written. This was acknowledged by the various member of the CCSD Board, Superintendent, and the Chief Financial Officer. However, the Board still voted to violate the law. It is time for the State Board of Education to step in and suspend the Clark County School Board of Trustees taking control of the District until it is in complete compliance with NRS 388G.500-810 and any of the Nevada Administrative Code that applies.
The Superintendent needs to be directed to bring the District into compliance no later than May of 2022 when his current contract will expire. If at that time the District is still out of compliance, he should be replaced.
No one asked me but… Has anyone else been following the Congressional attack on social media sites. Let me explain that I do not have a Facebook, Instagram, or any other social media account. I am not sure what that says about me but I truly believe that I could get rid of my cell-phone altogether.
However, it apparently has become a tool that most American’s hold dear, and that is all well and good.
There are those who are attacking the main line social media outlets for censoring some material and not censoring others. They lament the fact that these sites seem to embrace ultra-liberal rants and censor their use by conservatives. Let me suggest to you that these are private companies who should have the right to determine what can be posted or not posted on their media. If you are upset by the content, get off the media. Establish your own media as Donald Trump has now done. If you don’t like CNN and CNBC, don’t watch it. But to call for censorship is an attack on free speech protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution.
There are those who attribute a 40% raise in young female suicide to cyberbullying on Instagram. If you are upset about what you see on Instagram, get off Instagram. If Facebook offends you, get off Facebook. I don’t watch CNN or CNBC and am now limiting Fox News
as I search for a real news channel. However, I don’t believe that any of this media should be censored because they offend me. My T.V. has an on and off button.
Parents, if your child is being cyber-bullied, whatever that is, take their phone away. You say but then I won’t be able to keep tract of them 24/7. Is this really bad? Are our children really so fragile that they cannot function without adult supervision for any part of their day? If you don’t want to remove the electronic leash, take Instagram and Facebook off your child’s phone. A friend of mine found his son inappropriately using his phone. When the child failed to follow his father’s direction to stop the undesirable activity, he had the boy take the phone to the garage where the boy was directed to destroyed the phone with a ball bat. That my friends is called parenting.
Thought of the week… As we look ahead into the 21st century, leaders will be those who empower others.
– Bill Gates
