Running head: SCHOOL BOARD MEETING 1

Artifact 1

CCSD School Board Meeting

Seidy Portillo

College of Southern Nevada

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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to discuss a Clark County School District, school board

meeting, and its relation to relevant issues being learned in a Nevada School Law course. I will

discuss four main issues that have been taught and spoken about in class, that arise in this school

board meeting. Many of the public comments made were similar, and relevant to current arising

issues.
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Artifact 1

CCSD School Board Meeting

The State Board of Education holds meetings to discuss school plans which are open to

the public. This ensures that citizens have their voices and concerns heard, and to represent that

the community has power in the public schools. This was my first time attending a school board

meeting, and it was conveniently online, available for me to watch from start to finish. I saw a

session that was approximately 4 hours long and took place on the 9th of August in 2018. Many

topics were discussed, but the ones that arose the most were wages, health insurance, contracts

and discrimination.

Teacher, administration, and support staff pay were discussed by almost every speaker

who made a public comment. A substitute by the name of Erick H. stated that the reason Clark

County is so short staffed is because they are not giving teachers, especially substitutes and

support staff, the recognition and honor that they have earned. He requested for a pay raise for all

staff in the district, not just administration. He mentioned bus drivers, monitors, aides, school

officers, and more. Many of the staff were stating that they could not afford to keep paying out of

pocket for things that the district should supply, such as school supplies and food. I looked up

local news to see relevant topics, and I read an article about how there might be delayed pay

raises for support staff in Las Vegas, Nevada. Erick was the first person to speak, after him every

single commenter mentioned that their health insurance had to be lowered, or they should be

given better benefits.

At the thirty-two-minute mark, commenter Autumn Tampa brought up the unfair

treatment of teachers and support staff compared to administration. While teachers get pay raises

and back pay, those under admin level get cut backs and no raise. She was the second person to
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say that health insurance was not affordable. This puts their health at risk. A man named Robert

Cole even recommended that Nevada go back to its roots, and create a CCSD health insurance

coverage plan, one that will ensure safety of teachers and students equally. One thing Tampa

said that will stick with me is that “These policies burden employees who get paid the least.” She

was also the first to mention that teachers should not be having to pay a yearly fee of $55.00

dollars for finger print fees, to which many applauded. Superintendent Dr. Jesus Jara responded

by saying that the finger prints are fees from the state, and that there probably is not much that

they will be able to do about it. A majority of the commenters were staff who wanted to be

appreciated and valued, more than they wanted higher wages. Respect for the districts to keep

word on contracts that they create.

One contract that mislead teachers was when it was decided that their health insurance

coverage would last until January 2019, but it has been cut back by five months, and will be

taken away September 2018. Funding was also a pressing issue. Many blame lack of funds for

Clark County School Districts “worst of the worst” school rankings. A topic that I did not expect

to arise in 2018, was discrimination. This was towards the end of the meeting when one

commenter questioned the board on why CCSD has 3 different types of bathrooms. Board

member Linda E. Young was passionate when she spoke about it. She stated that absolutely no

child should be made to feel uncomfortable, harassed, or unsafe. She said that the board can no

longer be split, as the members need to represent their constituents. There are steps that schools

take to decide who they would allow to use transgender bathrooms. Firstly, a student must

declare that they identify as transgender. After that a team consisting of the child who has

identified them self, their parents, the school principal, a counselor, and a few other people must
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have a meeting. These steps are not set in stone, as every school has their own way of dealing

with this issue.

The board of trustees addressed issues and concerns of the public as best as they could.

Although it was a long meeting, the amount of time that people got to voice their ideas and

concerns was a mere two minutes. Employee wages, contracts, health insurance, and

discrimination are all things that are protected by law. These topics will continue to be an issue

as I go into the field.

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References

Deanna L. Wright, Carolyn Edwards, Lola Brooks, Clerk Linda P. Cavazos, Kevin L. Child,

Chris Garvey, Linda E. Young, (2018). In: Regular Meeting of the Board of School

Trustees. [online] Available at:

http://clark.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=19&clip_id=5951 [Accessed 12

Sep. 2018].

Harvey, Amelia-Pak. (2018 September 10). Clark County school support staff may get delayed

pay increases. Review Journal. Retrieved from

https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/education/clark-county-school-support-staff-may-

get-delayed-pay-increases/