Running head: School Board Meeting

Miranda Springer School Board Meeting 1

School Board Meeting

Miranda Springer
College of Southern Nevada

Miranda Springer School Board Meeting

Abstract
A school board meeting took place on December 8, 2011. Within this meeting, comments from
distressed teachers and concerns about the future school budget were expressed. In addition to
the problems of Clark County School District, nominations of successful teachers and board
members were expressed for the annual Nation School Board Association.

Miranda Springer School Board Meeting

School Board Meeting

At the beginning of the meeting, one student was given a special graduation. Mr. Zone
had finally received his high school diploma at 90 years old. In the Wisconsin state constitution,
a statute for educational funding is only given for those in school between the ages of four to 20
(Underwood & Webb, 2006, p6). Contrary to Wisconsin, there is no mention of an age
requirement to receive federal funding in the Nevada state constitution.
Further into the meeting, there were many student body presidents from the Valleys high
schools who spoke about community services. Many Las Vegas high schools gave back to the
community by canned food drives, mentoring the younger children, and giving to those in need.
The high schools that partook in this are Boulder City, Basic, and Green Valley High Schools.
However, any mention of giving back to the community is exempt from the education clause of
the state constitution.
One of the overall themes of this meeting was Employee Labor Relations. Teachers go
above and beyond what is asked of them in the Clark County School District (CCSD). A majority
of the complaints by the teachers were about how they strive to meet the demands of the
curriculum and testing requirements within shorter school hours, receive lower wages or give up
bonuses, and working longer than contracted hours. The pay cut is due to the lack of funding
within the county. Most likely due to the economic downfall in recent years, property taxes
decreased as a result of decreased home values. A lower property tax means less money to fund
the district. Minimal funds for CCSD have resulted in the revoking of teacher raises and/or larger
class rooms with about 1,000 teacher layoffs. It is unusual for there to be only one school district
in a county, which in turn makes the taxes spread thinner. Subsequently, when a school district is
responsible for the entire county and that county goes through an economic downturn like what

Miranda Springer School Board Meeting

happened in Las Vegas, then everyone is affected. However, in places like Maricopa County or
Pima County, those counties suffered from the housing crash, although, some areas in each
county suffered more than others. Therefore, schools that did not suffer as much were in areas
that the housing price did not drop as much, leaving the tax base stronger. Catalina Foothills
School District and Tucson Unified School District, in Pima County where I grew up, also
suffered budget cuts and teacher layoffs to compensate the educational budget (Chavez).
Contrary to Pima County, Clark County and Clark County School District suffered more because
the ratio of school districts per county is 1 to 1, whereas Pima County covers more school
districts.
In the textbook, School Law for Teachers, school boards are given the authority to dictate
regular school operations (Underwood & Webb, 2006, p13). According to the 2012 Election
Resolution in the June 8, 2012 meeting of the CCSD School Board Meetings, voters can choose
to increase the property tax by 21.2 cents if voting yes on the ballot to provide more funds for
the district. However, it is doubtful that teachers will be able to sway the school board of its
decision on how to budget the district; and although the school board is the authority, they are
working within its guidelines given by the Federal and State constitutions and statutes.
While attending Catalina Foothills school district, I observed that teachers only continued
in their profession if their evaluation was acceptable (Evaluations of Instructional Programs).
Whereas, I feel, teachers in CCSD follow the motto last one in, first one out, meaning
regardless of effectiveness or excellence of an educator, the less time invested in a school, the
more likely one is to lose their job. This was the concern of many teachers starting out in CCSD
and was a constant topic of conversation in the December 8th school board meeting. However,

Miranda Springer School Board Meeting

this does not follow Title I of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) clause (Underwood & Webb, 2006,
p9).
Another theme was the budget. The school budget projected a decrease in enrollment for
local elementary, middle, and high schools, but the budget did not anticipate an increase in
enrollment at charter schools. Due to the lack of anticipation in budget for increased enrollment
in charter schools, it has decreased state aid. The state aid is presumably coming from the federal
government. The state is losing money because one of the statutes leaves all operations of
schools under the school board authority (Underwood & Webb, 2006, p13). By failing to
anticipate new enrollments in charter schools, the district is suffering the penalty of less state aid.
Overall, the meeting talked about the very real possibilities of teachers being laid off or
giving up raises and how this overall affects the budget for the district. Conducting meetings to
receive feedback, either from the school boards end or the employees end, ensures everyone
will be on the same page and secure a better financial and educational future for the district and
the students.

Miranda Springer School Board Meeting

References
CCSDTV | Board Meeting - 12/8/2011 | Clark County School District. (2011, December 8).
CCSDTV | tv.ccsd.net. Retrieved June 11, 2012, from http://tv.ccsd.net/watch?
v=WJfVE9wcTj4
Chavez, T. (n.d.). Impact of Tucson teacher layoffs - Tucson Public Education | Examiner.com.
Welcome to Examiner.com | Examiner.com. Retrieved June 17, 2012, from
http://www.examiner.com/article/impact-of-tucson-teacher-layoffs
EVALUATION OF INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAMS. (n.d.). Arizona School Board Association
Manuals. Retrieved June 17, 2012, from lp.ctspublish.com/asba/public/lpext.dll?
f=templates&fn=main-h.htm
Nevada State Constitution. (n.d.). Pearson Online Companion Text book. Retrieved June 11,
2012, from
wps.prenhall.com/chet_underwood_schoollaw_1/42/10992/2813970.cw/index.html
Underwood, J. and Webb, L. D. (2006), "Legal Framework for the Public Schools." School law
for teachers: concepts and applications. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Merrill Prentice
Hall. 6, 9, 13. Print.