Clark County schools told to produce Kevin Child records by Wednesday
A District Court judge on Monday ordered the Clark County School District to release investigative records on Trustee Kevin Child to the Las Vegas Review-Journal by 3 p.m. Wednesday, a ruling that should put the documents before voters just ahead of Election Day.
Responding to an emergency motion filed by the newspaper earlier in the day, Judge Timothy Williams also set a hearing in the case for Thursday.
The Nevada Supreme Court ruled last week that the school district must produce the records the newspaper requested on Child, who was the subject of a school district investigation that concluded he created a hostile working environment. The probe found that Child held impromptu “suicide counseling sessions” with students, caused anxiety among female employees and violated the district’s harassment policy. Former Superintendent Pat Skorkowsy previously restricted Child’s access to schools and district offices.
But the justices also urged the District Court to consider redacting the names of teachers or other witnesses who spoke to investigators, in addition to the names of students, support staff and victims of alleged sexual harassment whose names already had been withheld.
Child is running for re-election to his District D seat and is on the Nov. 6 ballot against political newcomer Irene Cepeda, who was the top vote-getter in the primary election.
The Review-Journal argued in the court filing that the district’s failure to produce records deprived the newspaper of its ability to report the news in a timely fashion.
“The school district has withheld these records for almost two years,” Review-Journal Executive Editor Glenn Cook said Monday. “Bravo to Judge Williams for ordering their release. The information in these records is critical to voters who have days left to decide whether they’ll re-elect Trustee Child. If the school district had its way, the records wouldn’t be released until after the election, if ever.”
Review-Journal attorneys seeking the records said they were rebuffed by one of the district’s lawyers, who later stopped responding to repeated requests for the documents, the court filing claims.
“(Attorney Adam) Honey refused to make the records available to the Review-Journal and expressed hostility and anger towards the idea of producing records,” the motion states.
The district said in a statement that it is working diligently to comply with the Supreme Court ruling and will produce the documents as soon as possible.
Child said in a text message Monday that he was never given the opportunity to respond to or refute allegations, and he questioned what he called a one-sided investigation.
“I have repeatedly stated that I support the release of the investigation documents pertaining to allegations made against me, I support the release of these documents since this will be the first time that I will find out what these allegations are and who made them,” he said. “I have been declared guilty until proven innocent.”
Contact Amelia Pak-Harvey at apak-harvey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4630. Follow @AmeliaPakHarvey on Twitter.
Judge's order to turn over Child records by Las Vegas Review-Journal on Scribd