By DR. LARRY MOSES
No one asked me but… I believe it is imperative that the Nevada State Department of Education appoint a Compliance Officer to oversee the actions of the Clark County School District Board of Trustees. The CCSD failure to resolve the poor standing of education within the District made it necessary to pass NRS 388G.500-810. This is a reorganization law that has in some cases just been ignored, and in other cases defiantly violated by the CCSD Board of Trustees.
This spring I watched a CCSD Board meeting where the Board knowingly voted 6-1 to violate NRS 3888G. 660.1(b) requiring 85% of unrestricted moneys be placed in the local school budgets to be controlled by the individual schools.
Later in the same month, I watched a Nevada State Board of Education subcommittee meeting where a District representative stated that the District would not comply with this financial provision of the reorganization laws.
The CCSD also admitted they were out of compliance with the stipulations of NRS 388G when it came to the placement of surplus teachers. The District stated compliance with the law would put them in violation of the contract agreement with the teacher’s association. One must wonder when association agreements supersede the law of the State of Nevada?
During this report the District representative stated that the reorganization efforts have had a detrimental effect on the District. It was stated that the attempt to comply with the law took the focus from educating children and placed it on reforming the District’s mode of delivery. Apparently, the District cannot chew gum and walk at the same time. It was also stated that the reorganization did not bring about the desired improvement in the educational growth of the students of Clark County.
While I agree that the District has focused its time on the reform, it has not been to implement it. During the five years the law has been in effect, CCSD has been busy fighting the reorganization with every means at their disposal, even to the point of out and out violation of the law. While the District’s report to a sub-committee of the Nevada State Department of Education said the reorganization has been a failure, I would contend they have no way to know if it was a failure since they have refused to implement the law.
Since the CCSD Board of Trustees has refused to relinquish, to the local school precincts, any responsibility for District operations, finances, and services, they must accept the total responsibility for the malfunctions within the District which have led to an abysmal national ranking of the educational results in CCSD. Until the State solves the problems of CCSD, they cannot solve the overall state rankings which wallow at the bottom of educational achievement.
The open hostility to reform expressed by members of the CCSD Board of Trustees will make it impossible to carry out any meaningful reform without careful monitoring by the Nevada State Department of Education. The past record of the CCSD Board of ignoring, when they found it advantageous to do so, various Nevada Revised Statues would indicate a need for a Compliance Officer to insure the reorganizations laws are carried out in a proper manner.
By voting to violate NRS 3888G. 660.1(b) (2) requiring 85% of unrestricted moneys be placed in the local school budgets to be controlled by the individual schools, the CCSD Board of Trustees took a stand against the reform efforts of the legislature; therefore, the Board of Trustees cannot be trusted to carry out any reforms required by the Legislature. The Board of Trustees have demonstrated a lack of understanding as to what is required of the District under the reorganization plan as codified in the Nevada Revised Statues.
It would be irresponsible for the State Department of Education to leave the present CCSD Board of Trustees in charge of the District without a Compliance Officer to ensure this rogue Board comes into compliance with the law as written. This Compliance Officer would review all CCSD’s present policies and regulations and require them to conform to the laws of the State of Nevada.
The Nevada State Board of Education Compliance Officer should continue to function until it is determined by the Governor, and the State Board of Education, that an elected CCSD Board of Trustees is capable of managing the District as stipulated by Nevada Revised Statues.
When the elected board is re-established, it should be a seven-member board with a member elected by the electorate of the city of Las Vegas, a member chosen by the electorate of the city of Henderson, a member elected by the electorate of the city of North Las Vegas, a member elected by the electorate of the City of Mesquite, a member elected by the electorate of Boulder City, and a member elected by the electorate of the unincorporated areas of Clark County.
A Chairman of this board would be appointed by the Governor. The Chairman of the Board would conduct the meetings but would vote only to break a tie vote among the committee members.
No one asked me but…If CCSD followed NRS 388G, which allows a local school to seek assistance from sources outside the District when the District cannot meet the needs of the school in a reasonable manner or time, there might not have been a multiple-days delay in getting the HVAC functioning in a local school.
My neighbor’s A/C went down and a local vender had the problem solved within fifteen minutes. If the District followed NRS 388G, the Principal of the school could have contracted a local vendor to solve the problem. However, the District does not recognize the law that allows for this and the school had to go days without adequate A/C.
Thought of the week… Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.
– Plato
