Silver State school granted provisional charter renewal

Saying Silver State Charter Schools still needed to clarify some issues, the Nevada Board of Education granted the school a provisional charter, charging administrators with correcting technical items before July 1.

The school was issued a notice of nonrenewal on May 17, outlining specific deficiencies to be corrected by Friday's meeting. About 30 percent of its student body lives in Douglas County.

Tom McCormack, charter school consultant for the Nevada Department of Education, told board members the school was not ready to have its charter renewed.

"The school has corrected some but not all of the deficiencies in the nonrenewal notice," he said. "It is the department's recommendation that the school board authorize the superintendent to approve renewal of the charter when the department has determined the school has corrected the remainder of the deficiencies."

McCormack made note of a list of areas where it was determined the school was still deficient.

He said the charter school's board did not adequately reprimand executive director Steve Knight and former board president Edie Grub following the purchase of a truck from Knight's daughter-in-law. McCormack said the department determined the purchase to be "illegal and unethical."

Jeff Blank, attorney for Silver State Charter Schools' governing board, said the state board did not have authority to require action against specific employees.

He also objected to the language in the report.

"I take very strong issue by constantly saying Mr. Knight's actions were illegal," he said. "If they were illegal, prosecute him. Accusing someone of a crime is slander per se if it's not true."

Knight's attorney last month served a former governing board member with a cease and desist letter or face a libel and slander lawsuit for similar comments.

The department's legal counsel Ed Irvin, senior deputy attorney general, later explained that testimony in a public hearing is exempt from slander laws.

McCormack also presented a list of technical errors and oversights to be clarified, mostly within the school's bylaws. He recommended the school change its policy allowing the administrator to make purchases up to $25,000 without prior approval of the school's governing board.

"That's too high a threshold," McCormack said.

He also recommended that the school administrator not be allowed to suggest members for the governing board, saying it compromises the independence of the board.

Blank said it is hard to find members to serve on the board so anyone should be allowed to make recommendations.

The school will have until the charter expires on July 1 to fix the remaining inconsistencies.

State Board of Education President Christopher Wallace said he supported the renewal of the charter.

"We received 43 parent letters in support of Silver State Charter Schools," he said. "That speaks volumes."

Knight assured board members he and his staff would remedy the deficiencies.

"I apologize that we had any of this dysfunction to begin with," he said.

Eugene Paslov, a former six-year member of Silver State's governing board, spoke during the public comment portion at the conclusion of the meeting. He said he also supported the provisional approval of the charter. However, he cautioned them to exercise greater oversight of the school.

He urged a greater emphasis on creating a governing board independent of the administration.

"The board is being manipulated right now," he said. "The state staff needs to keep an eye on it."

His principal concern, however, is for the staff. While he was on the board, he said, teachers were told that if they spoke with board members about concerns, they would be fired.

"There really needs to be a grievance process for protecting staff," he said. "There's a lot of favoritism going on."

He said his remarks were meant to make the school stronger, not put it in jeopardy.

"The critical issue is providing a good education with good teachers, and they have that," he said. "But if they don't fix these things, it will collapse over time."