Fixing the Clark County School District will require undoing many past mistakes.
On Thursday, the Board of Trustees unanimously selected state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jhone Ebert as the district’s next superintendent. Ms. Ebert’s local connections and experience impressed board members. Gov. Joe Lombardo and a host of legislative Democrats backed her bid. In a statement before the selection, the Clark County Education Association laid out criteria that made it obvious she was the group’s preferred candidate.
The board conducted this search with a minimal amount of public drama. Trustees were respectful in laying out their thoughts. It was a much-needed display of maturity. May it bode well for the future.
But hiring a superintendent is an activity, not an achievement. Ms. Ebert will be successful only if she significantly increases student achievement while keeping the district on solid financial footing. She faces a difficult task, especially given the limitations Nevada’s collective bargaining law puts on her authority.
The most pressing concern for Ms. Ebert after academic growth is improving school safety. At the start of his tenure, former Superintendent Jesus Jara, worried about racial disparities, pushed school leaders to reduce suspensions and expulsions. Then, as now, African American and Hispanic students suffered higher rates of discipline. This restorative justice push led to an increase in school violence.
Mr. Jara attempted to reverse himself and restore order, but the damage was done. The School Board has also continued to focus on disparities, not safety. In the 2023 legislative session, Ms. Ebert testified in support of Gov. Lombardo’s school safety bill. It made it easier for school officials to remove dangerous students. That was a positive. But if a school district had disproportionality in disciplinary actions, the bill required the district to “reduce the disproportionality.”
Ms. Ebert must make it clear that her priority is to improve safety and to create a classroom atmosphere conducive to learning, regardless of racial politics.
If she improves school safety, Ms. Ebert will have made tangible progress in addressing the district’s teacher shortage. Despite public perception, the district has been fairly successful in hiring new teachers. Retaining them is the challenge. Teachers who don’t feel safe are more likely to leave.
Another way to help teachers is to roll back Mr. Jara’s dumbed-down grading policy. Ideas such as the “minimum F,” while allowing students to ignore homework deadlines and retake tests numerous times may sound compassionate. But those loopholes send the wrong signal to impressionable teenage minds looking for the easy way out. It’s a frustration for teachers. Homework isn’t fun, but it helps students learn — even if teachers have to use the stick of a failing grade.
Mr. Jara partially reversed course on this before he left. Ms. Ebert should fully implement higher standards.
Ms. Ebert should also advocate for a teacher evaluation system that identifies struggling teachers and helps them improve or separate. Under the state’s framework last year, more than 99 percent of district teachers were rated as effective or above. This makes a mockery of the process and doesn’t do teachers, administrators, students or parents any favors.
This school year, the district took a small step toward reducing cellphone usage in classrooms. It provided signal-blocking pouches for older students in which to place their cellphones. Ms. Ebert should ensure that every school is strictly enforcing that policy. If they aren’t, eliminate cellphones in the classroom completely.
Another past failure that Ms. Ebert needs to learn from involves teacher pay. Significant across-the-board pay hikes haven’t solved the district’s teacher shortage. Especially with PERS costs increasing, Ms. Ebert should ensure any pay increases are sustainable and merited. Targeted efforts, such as differential pay for teachers in failing schools, show more promise.
For all of Mr. Jara’s mistakes, he steadily restored the district’s finances. As a result of collective bargaining, the district teetered on the brink of insolvency when he began his tenure. Ms. Ebert must keep the district on strong financial footing.
If Ms. Ebert wants to succeed where Mr. Jara, Pat Skorkowsky and Dwight Jones failed, these items should top her to-do list.