Nevada bill would modify school boards
CARSON CITY — Assembly Minority Leader Pat Hickey, R-Reno, said Friday he is requesting a bill for the 2015 legislative session to consider changes to the way county school boards operate in the wake of the Washoe County School Board’s failed attempt to fire Superintendent Pedro Martinez.
Hickey said he was asked by Northern Nevada civic leaders to examine the powers of school boards and whether there should be limitations on those powers. Martinez returned to work Friday but legal action is pending.
“I am requesting the Legislative Counsel Bureau to draft a bill that will look at a possible blended or hybrid system of elected and appointed school board members, as was recently legislated in 2011 for the state Board of Education,” Hickey said.
The reaction to the Washoe school district’s violation of Nevada’s open meeting law in the Martinez matter makes the case for a thorough examination of how school boards operate and how they are comprised, he said.
Contact Capital Bureau reporter Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Find him on Twitter: @seanw801.
