CCSD school board pushes back superintendent selection to 2025

At Thursday’s board meeting, the firm hired to conduct the search, Hazard, Young, Attea, and Associates, gave a presentation recommending it delay choosing its superintendent until 2025.

Former Clark County School District superintendent Jesus Jara resigned in February. Brenda Larsen-Mitchell is currently the interim superintendent of the district, which is the country’s fifth largest.

Trustees and community members alike had expressed concern over the previous Oct. 30 selection date, given that three or four new trustees will be elected on Nov. 5.

The resignation of Katie Williams, who was determined by the district attorney to have not been living in Nevada, has left District B without a voting representative. Many trustees and community members expressed concern about the lack of representation, as well as the potential for a tie vote, during the Sept. 12 board meeting. They urged a delay of the search.

Moreover, CCSD’s potential budget deficit has led to instability on the board, which many people worried could deter candidates from applying.

“Anyone applying has been watching the antics,” former Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani told the board.

When asked by Trustee Ramona Esparza-Stoffregan whether a delay would help ensure the board received “cream of the crop” candidates, HYA Associate Shawn Joseph answered a quick “yes.”

Joseph said that while the firm has spoken to a few dozen candidates, only a few had applied thus far.

Vicki Kreidel, president of the Nevada State Education Association, said slowing down would help to be sure the board picked a fit candidate.

“To be honest I’m not sure this district would survive another fiasco like the last one,” she said, referring to the controversy surrounding Jara’s departure.

Not everyone agreed with the delay.

Jose Solorio, a resident of District B who served on the board in the 1990s, urged the board to move forward with its search on the current timeline.

“You get a lot more credibility if you were to hire the superintendent in the original timeline and get it going,” he said.

While the board largely agreed on delaying the superintendent search, they disagreed by how much.

Some trustees advocated for a process that would get a new superintendent chosen in time for the legislative session’s start in February, while others worried that hastening the process would be too much to ask of the new board members elected in November.

Trustee Brenda Zamora raised a motion to choose HYA’s first proposed timeline, which would select a new superintendent by February.

“That way we give some hope,” she said, referencing the importance of having the new superintendent advocating for CCSD at the legislature.

Zamora’s motion to select the first option was a tie vote.

Trustee Lola Brooks expressed concern about speeding the process along too fast and not giving new trustees enough time before the selection. She advocated for choosing HYA’s third timeline, which had a superintendent selection date of April.

Trustee president Evelyn Garcia Morales proposed a middle option as a compromise, which is the motion that ultimately passed unanimously.

“I am present to the need for our colleagues that we would benefit from being unified in our discussion,” Garcia Morales said.