CCSD School Board pushes superintendent search to spring

After months of drama surrounding CCSD’s School Board, trustees voted unanimously this week to pause the search until the new year, allowing for newly elected trustees to be part of the process. 

The search for superintendent in the Clark County School District has been pushed until early next year with hope that the four month pause allows the School Board to stabilize after the election.

During Thursday’s School Board meeting, trustees voted unanimously to delay the superintendent search until after newly elected board members take office on Jan. 6. They voted for a new timeline that pushes the first round of interviews with superintendent candidates to Feb. 17 and aims for a final selection by the end of March. 

The decision to push the search comes as four of the seven elected board seats are up for election and just weeks after former Trustee for District B, Katie Williams, resigned after the Clark County District Attorney found in an investigation that she no longer lived in Nevada. 

Trustees were provided three new timeline options by superintendent search firm Hazard Young Attea Associates (HYA) on the next steps in choosing a leader for the country’s fifth largest school district. Option one proposed starting interviews in January for the new superintendent to be selected in February. This option would have lined up with the 2025 Legislative session, which begins Feb. 3.

Trustee for District D, Brenda Zamora, was in support of option one to give “Nevada some hope” that the CCSD Board of Trustees is able to work together and represent the school district during the legislative session.

“We know during the interim sessions right now, we are at the top of the talking points,” Zamora said, alluding to recent news about CCSD experiencing a potential budget deficit that could lead to staff reductions and the slashing of programs. “And I truly, truly believe we have an opportunity to have someone in place, have a new superintendent, and give Nevada some hope.”

But option one failed to pass in a 3-3 vote.

Option two ended up being the one chosen in a unanimous vote. This calls for interviews to start in February and a superintendent selected by the end of March — a timeline that HYA associate Shawn Joseph recommended to trustees. Joseph noted that the original application deadline of Sept. 30 was approaching and that thus far, there have only been a couple applicants for the position. 

“We’ve been talking to a few dozen individuals, but many have not applied at this point, a few have, majority have not,” Joseph said, adding that the pause would also allow for the newly elected trustees to get on the same page. “Option two gives the new board an opportunity to build a relationship. Boards need to begin to trust one another, and you can’t do hard work without trust.”

Since the search is paused right now, the price for the search remains the same at $79,000, according to HYA. 

When it comes to filling Williams’ now-vacant seat before the election and before the new trustee is sworn in, the Board established that the position will be advertised to the public starting Sept. 29, and remain open until Oct. 18. 

Trustees will then review the applicants and appoint a candidate who will start serving on the Board on Oct. 30. 

The appointee will be in the seat for the remaining of the term, about two months, as the candidate elected on Nov. 5 will be sworn in on Jan. 6. 

District B was already up for grabs in this election, so there’s a possibility that a current candidate could apply and be appointed to the seat six days before the general election and occupy the seat for two months. If they win the election, they would then stay in the seat. If they do not win the election, the new trustee would then take the seat in January. 

Or someone else entirely could be appointed for the interim two months.