School board could cut ties with state association

Douglas County School Board trustees are considering cutting ties from Nevada Association of School Boards.

The district’s membership with state association is not up until December, but it was agenized during the Jan. 9 school board meeting for discussion.

During the meeting, trustee Katherine Dickerson, who is also a director on the association’s board, said she would not vote to approve membership renewal because there have been topics she thought were “concerning” and “disturbing.”

“It seems to be more of an activist group than it is looking out for education in terms of classic education,” she said.

Trustee Susan Jansen agreed with Dickerson stating that during the Dec. 1-2 conference in Las Vegas, a speaker said schools shouldn’t punish students as it’s a pipeline to prison and that critical race theory is being pushed.

Association President-Elect and a Carson City School Board Trustee Mike Walker said much of the December conference included school superintendents and financial experts on school funding, Nevada Plan information, a session on how to inspire students and staff for high success rates and national work on artificial intelligence and its impact on education.

 “The thing is, when you go to a conference there is a lot of content presented and you might not agree with everything,” Walker said. “We didn’t receive any complaints about the conference, and we would be happy to address it if they would reach out and tell us what concerned them.”

Walker said the association advocates for elected school boards, provide best practice strategies, good governance, professional development, training and mentoring to school boards and strives to provide topics and concerns that are timely and resonate with what school districts might face while creating a unified voice from all participates.

Currently all 17 school districts in Nevada participate.

“As a state we have a strong voice and have all of our communities at the table,” said Walker. “We have a large urban school district, a lot of rural districts and those communities in between so to bring all of those together, it gives a broader community to advocate for and it would be unfortunate if they were not part of that conversation.” 

If the Douglas County School District were to withdraw from the Nevada Association of School Boards the most significant repercussion would be their ability to advocate for themselves and remain informed about bills and policies affecting education in the state.

“Currently NASB serves as one of the unified voices in Nevada education and relinquishing their membership would entail DCSD losing their invaluable advocacy and support provided by NASB,” said NASB Executive Director Rick Harris.

Harris said Douglas County would also lose the opportunity to collaborate with NASB in shaping legislative priorities and bringing to light local issues. They would need to establish their own research and analysis capabilities or rely on external sources for critical information, and they would need to create their own policy strategies and messaging.

Association members also have the potential to participate in state boards such as the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association and the Teachers and Leaders Council, which can have a significant impact on shaping education policies at the state level.

In addition, many member districts utilize BoardBook, a cloud-based software application that streamlines the compilation and distribution of board meeting information, support material and documents. Association provides a reduced cost for the service.

“In conclusion, should DCSD decide to sever their ties with NASB, they would lose the unified advocacy, research, analysis and strategy develop support provided by NASB, miss out on the extensive professional development, state board opportunities and technological solutions that NASB membership offers,” said Harris. “Establishing equivalent mechanism independently would likely require additional resources and expertise.”

Walker said Harris and NASB President Wade Poulsen plan to address the Douglas County School Board and provide information during the next meeting on Feb. 13.

“We would go out of our way to support any district in the state,” said Walker.