School board majority backer defends large records request

A political backer of three first-year school board trustees defended his public records request for what could amount to thousands of emails and texts.

On Monday, Nicholas Maier said he was seeking the information about negotiations with the school district’s associations that he called “highly secretive.”

He said he is seeking evidence that the district under former Superintendent Keith Lewis used federal COVID funding to implement the district’s EPIC program instead of raising salaries for employees.

Negotiations are not subject to any provisions of state law that requires a meeting be open or public.

“Another purpose of my request was to assure citizens of Douglas County that there is no conflict of interest at play between those at DCSD who negotiate the contract and those who benefit from the contract,” he said on Monday.

Nevada received $1.1 billion under the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund in June 2021.

Of that $777.8 million went to the Clark County School District, one of the largest in the nation, according to the nevadaesser.org tracker site updated on Jan. 12, 2024.

Douglas received $4.1 million in American Rescue Plan funds, according to the site, and had spent $2.6 million by 2021, which amounted to $768 per student.

Of that, $1.795 million was budgeted for staff, $1 million for supplies and $1.2 million for services, though only $101,528 had been spent.

Maier denied that the request would amount to the up to 30,000 documents.

The request covers correspondence from Adam Dedmon, Leslie Peters, Jeannie Dwyer, Rick Hsu, Keith Lewis and employees serving on the district’s three bargaining units between June 1 and Nov. 15, 2023. Search terms include contract, negotiations, bargaining, employee organizations, employer organizations, union, classified employee, mediation, bargaining agent, bargaining unit, representative, labor, NRS 288, classified employees union, collective and agreement, according to Roth’s first complaint.

He said calling Douglas County School District IT Director Mike Roth a whistleblower implies criminal activity.

“There is nothing criminal or illegal about filing a Nevada Open Records request,” Maier said. “Any Nevada citizen can request email, written, or text communications between elected officials or members of public agencies like the DCSD. The Nevada Legislature has provided the citizens of Nevada this means by which we can assure transparency of our public agencies.”

State law does allow agencies to collect reasonable fees for public records requests, but the Douglas County School District’s Policy 815 doesn’t specifically include a cost for providing records.

Roth specifically said he is seeking whistleblower protection for both complaints.

Just before the 2022 election, Lewis denied Maier’s accusation posted to social media that the district was illegally expending the federal funds.

“Expenditures must be approved by the State of Nevada,” Lewis said in an Oct. 17, 2022, email to The Record-Courier. “Douglas County School District has not spent a penny of ESSER funding on anything that was not first approved by the state as an allowable use of the funds.”

Epic is an acronym for Empower, Prepare, Inspire, Connect, which is “aimed at updating the learning experience in Douglas County schools to better suit the latest generation’s needs. By utilizing technology, personalizing education, and giving students more of a voice in the classroom, EPIC’s goal is to create engaged graduates prepared for success,” according to the district’s website.

Implementation began in 2019.