Clark County School District staff, parents, students and other community members on Monday evening got their first chance to ask questions of the three candidates vying to become the district’s next superintendent.
They peppered the candidates about a variety of topics, including student safety, achievement gaps and teacher retention.
The three candidates — state Superintendent Jhone Ebert, charter school CEO Jesse Welsh and Ben Shuldiner, a superintendent in Michigan — rotated around rooms at Rancho High School, where they met the different constituent groups for 45 minutes each before answering questions from reporters.
The school district has been without a permanent leader since former Superintendent Jesus Jara resigned in February 2024. Brenda Larsen-Mitchell, the district’s interim superintendent, announced in December that she would not put her name forward for the permanent position. The candidates have had initial interviews with the Clark County School Board, but Monday was the first time they faced public questioning.
The different groups asked a range of questions about leadership style, but several of them revolved around student safety and behavior, achievement gaps and teacher retention. Afterward, people had the opportunity to fill out feedback forms about the candidates. The forms will go to the school board. The board will ask the candidates pre-written questions at Tuesday’s meeting, and plans to make its final selection on Thursday.
Jhone Ebert
Ebert started the night with parents and students, where she fielded questions ranging from whether cheerleaders would keep their snack to concerns over an ROTC program ending.
Turnout was the lowest among this group. Alyssa Schwartz, who was there for her civics class at Green Valley High School, said that she had not heard much discussion about a superintendent search from fellow students.
Ebert said she has 25 years of CCSD experience, ranging from a substitute teacher to the chief innovation and productivity officer. She was then the senior deputy commissioner for education policy in New York state.
She became Nevada superintendent of public instruction 2019 under former Gov. Steve Sisolak and now works under Gov. Joe Lombardo. In that role, as she emphasized on Monday night, she has worked toward accountability. After the school district’s budget issues this fall, she sent public questions to Larsen-Mitchell and then appointed a compliance monitor.
Ebert said that she wants to serve as CCSD superintendent because she knows the school district can do better.
“I know we are great,” she said. “I know there are things that are broken and trust has been lost.”
In response to a question from staff about delaying start times, Ebert said that the research pointed to benefits.
She said that she would work with the school board on it.
“If the research shows [the benefits], and we want higher graduation rates, and it shows that the students will be more engaged, then why aren’t we doing that?” Ebert said.
She also pledged to be out in the community meeting with people and engage in difficult conversations.
“I will agree to disagree respectfully,” she said.
Ben Shuldiner
Shuldiner started out the night in the gym with community members, which included current and former trustees and seasoned education advocates.
He started his career in education as a teacher before going on to become a high school principal in New York for 10 years. He also sat on the New York City School Board, and was president of the association for supervision and curriculum development, which provides professional development for educators. He currently serves as superintendent of the Lansing School District in Michigan.
While he acknowledged that Lansing only has 11,000 students compared with CCSD’s 300,000, he drew comparisons in the diverse population of both districts, and emphasized the improvements he made in Michigan.
In response to questions from students and parents about school safety, Shuldiner emphasized the importance of building relationships with students and parents. He said that Lansing has been a leader in safety and security, and he would make sure that CCSD had new technology that has been shown to be effective.
He said that it pained him to hear that he would be coming on the heels of a superintendent who stopped listening to community feedback, and pledged to work to listen to the community.
“The best job of a superintendent and district is to be transparent,” he said.
Shuldiner said his highest priority would be to bring back a sense of hope and love for the district. Although some have expressed skepticism over him being an outsider, Shuldiner also positioned himself as a change candidate and fresh start with superintendent experience.
“Everybody here is pulling for this place. And to be honest, you just need a different kind of leader,” Shuldiner said.
Jesse Welsh
Welsh began his rotation with the staff, where he moved around the theater, joking and making eye contact with everyone in the room.
He started working in the Clark County School District more than two decades ago as a math and Spanish teacher before he became a dean, coordinator for the northwest region and eventually assistant superintendent. He then served as superintendent for the Paradise Valley Paradise Valley Unified School District in Phoenix, Arizona, from June 2019 to December 2020.
He currently serves as CEO of Nevada State High School charter school.
Welsh said his philosophy was: “Hire the right people, give them what they need and get out of their way.”
He highlighted the role of strong leadership starting at the top, but also said that he wanted to “let teachers teach.”
“People quit bosses, they don’t quit jobs,” Welsh told the staff group.
With his background in CCSD, Welsh said that there were a lot of changes that needed to be made.
“Too often, we’re trying to paint a rosy picture about things,” he told reporters.
He said his priorities were staffing, finances and a new strategic plan to set the vision of the district moving forward. Welsh also emphasized the role of school safety.
“People aren’t going to learn at school if they don’t feel safe,” Welsh said.
Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournla.com. Follow @ktfutts on X and @katiefutterman.bsky.social.