CCSD School Board member Katie Williams resigns, but turmoil continues

Community members are urging further investigations into two other trustees following Williams’ resignation, claiming they were aware of Williams’ alleged residence change and failed to do anything about it.

Tensions were high during Thursday’s Clark County School Board meeting amidst a superintendent search, a trustee resignation, election season, and community members calling for an investigation on two other trustees. 

Just last week, the Clark County District Attorney, Steven Wolfson, announced the findings of his investigation examining  complaints surrounding Trustee for District B Katie Williams and whether she still lived in Clark County. Wolfon’s investigation determined Williams no longer resided in Nevada, let alone her district, and called on her to resign or be removed from her seat. 

On Wednesday of this week, Wolfson’s office filed a petition to declare Williams’ seat vacant, which was followed by Williams announcing her resignation. Williams was not seeking reelection and had three months left in her term. 

In her resignation letter to School Board president Evelyn Garcia-Morales, Williams stated that the DA “erroneously” claimed that she was no longer a Nevada resident and argued that she still is, without providing any evidence to back up her claim. Wolfson has yet to release the investigation’s findings that prove the months-long speculation that Williams had moved out of state.  

During Thursday’s Board of Trustees meeting, several members of the community and teachers union urged additional investigations into trustees Lola Brooks and Garcia-Morales, claiming they were aware of Williams’ alleged residence change and failed to do anything about it. 

Kenny Belknap, a high school social studies teacher and vice president of the Clark County Education Association (CCEA), said during the public comment section of Thursday’s meeting that the superintendent search process, which has included community focus groups and surveys, is a way to earn back the community’s trust. 

“This process must but be done in a way to build back trust in the community we all serve, and CCSD former Trustee Williams resigning yesterday was just the first step in building back that trust,” Belknap said, adding that CCEA is also calling on the board to review all votes that were decided on a 4-3 vote since Williams allegedly moved and where Williams was in the majority. 

“The students, educators and communities that you all serve are owed this. There is no law that prevents trustees from reconsidering previous votes,” he continued. “It is unethical to allow decisions made by someone who couldn’t even bother to live in our community to stand, especially around a decision as important as the one you’re making.”

Four of the seven elected school board seats are up for election in November, including Brooks’ and Garcia-Morales’. Brooks is not seeking reelection, but Garcia-Morales is. 

The school board also has four additional appointed members who represent local municipalities and help add to the conversation, especially as CCSD continues its search for a new superintendent, a process which is supposed to conclude in late October with the new hire starting in early November. 

District B covers the northern part of the Las Vegas valley, Mesquite, Moapa Valley, and Nellis Air Force Base. With the seat now empty and two months until a new trustee is chosen in the election, appointed Trustee Isaac Barron, a North Las Vegas Councilmember, brought up the possibility of pushing the superintendent timeline until there’s full representation on the board.

“We just had a situation yesterday in which one of the members of this board resigned. And so now a large portion of my city — about a half of our city — has now been disenfranchised on this board,” Barron said. “As far as I know everyone who is a voting member on this board, all of their opinions have to be included. And now the person who is supposed to be representing my community is not gonna be here to actually weigh these things out.”

Barron also argued that a delay in the search would also accommodate prospective applicants who may currently be superintendents elsewhere as the school year is already underway. 

“If we had to go a little bit later,” he said. “It would probably fit better into their timeline because I don’t know if you actually want to hire any superintendent who’s willing to go ahead and jump ship in the middle of the school year.”