Half the seats on Nevada Board of Education up for grabs

Two seats are up for grabs on the State Board of Education, which sets policy standards and oversees Nevada’s public education system.

The board has four elected members from each congressional district and seven appointed members.

District 1

Tricia Braxton, who has a background in law enforcement and education, faces Tim Underwood, a disabled Navy veteran and former casino worker.

The Southern Nevada district includes part of downtown Las Vegas, Henderson and Boulder City.

If elected, Braxton said she hopes to seek ways to increase collaboration on the board.

“I know that it won’t be easy, necessarily, to move forward with everyone agreeing on any particular issue, but moving forward with dialogue, with civil discourse,” she said.

Braxton also wants to ensure a more “personalized approach” for the diversity of schools across the state. Inside schools, she said she would like to see more opportunities for hands-on learning.

Underwood did not provide specific plans for academics, stating only that he wanted to focus on excellence instead of cultural ideologies such as transgender and race policies, which he referred to as “indoctrinations.”

He also told the Review-Journal that “order needs to be re-instilled” to fix how the school district handles “violent, unruly students.”

Underwood is running on parental rights. His own child was transgender and died by suicide last year at the age of 37 — something Underwood blamed on the gender ideology taught in schools.

Braxton said that this sort of focus was a distraction from the issues.

“I believe that education is for all,” she said. “It’s important to foster an environment of acceptance and empathy. I believe that social emotional learning is beneficial.”

Underwood is a frequent critic at CCSD board meetings, where he has criticized certain teaching and reading as pornography.

Braxton, who is endorsed by the Clark County Education Association, said teachers and librarians are real professionals who do not have time for the accusations being made by proponents of book banning and other similar critiques.

“She brings a certain level of understanding of expectations out of our school systems, and is focused on student outcomes, and is also supportive of educators,” Executive Director John Vellardita told the Review-Journal.

She is also the only state board candidate endorsed by CCSD Trustees Linda Cavazos, Ramona Esparza-Stoffregan and Brenda Zamora.

Underwood, meanwhile, said his background would mark a needed change to the current board.

“I’m a working class man who’s sick and tired of these degreed intellectuals thinking that they can control our lives and basically wage war on our families,” he said.

District 3

Incumbent René Cantú faces former Clark County School Board Trustee Danielle Ford to represent North Las Vegas and into Northern Nevada. Ford received three percentage points more of the vote than Cantú in June’s primary election.

Cantú has represented District 4 since 2021, but with redistricting he is now up for election in District 3.

He is the executive director of Jobs for Nevada Graduates, which assists students from underrepresented backgrounds.

In his work on the board thus far, he prides himself on the pressure the state board has put on CCSD. He said that when Jesus Jara was the superintendent, the district was “basically flouting” Assembly Bill 469, which provides administrators and parents with more local control.

“I believe that we need to either have them fully comply with the law or really look at ways of breaking up the school district,” Cantú said.

During Ford’s tenure on CCSD’s board from 2018 until 2022, she regularly challenged Jara and the trustees who voted in his favor. She was defeated by current Trustee Irene Bustamante Adams, and hosts a podcast titled “Unraveling Education,” which details what she said was the corruption she saw while on the board.

Cantú also highlighted the selection of the ACT as the college readiness test, though he said he would also like to have an option for students heading straight into careers.

“Part of what I would like to see us do more is really kind of break down those walls and silos between education and different disciplines,” he said.

The CCEA has endorsed him, citing his perspective on connecting workforce development and the economy.

“We have to have students that really come out of public education ready for the workforce or higher education and/or careers, and I think he brings that kind of perspective to the Board of Education,” Vellardita said.

Ford said she believes that a lot of the mandates and reporting demanded from the state board creates increased stress on educators.

“I think a huge reason that educators are leaving is that they are not able to be educators,” Ford said.

She sees the state board as an opportunity to be part of a board moving in the right direction, where she hopes to advocate for universal pre-K.

“I’ll go in there and do what needs to get done, whether (or not) that is learning something that isn’t in the scope of my job, because it’s going to make sense to learn that and bring that back to the board,” she said.

If you’re thinking about suicide, or are worried about a friend or loved one, help is available 24/7 by calling or texting the Lifeline network at 988. Live chat is available at 988lifeline.org.

Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com.