Summary of 2/8/22 Regular Meeting of the WCSD Board of Trustees

To watch the YouTube of this meeting click here.

3.01. Update on the new Superintendent search by the Bryan Group.

So far they have received only four completed applications and 12 partial applications for the Superintendent position. The deadline to apply is February 20.
372 people (40 students) applied to be in the Superintendent Search Advisory Group (SAG). 37 adults and 13 students were chosen. The adults were chosen without any input from the WCSD. The students chosen were given a green light by the district and orientation has already begun. Training for the SAG on analyzing data collection, criteria evaluation and application screening will begin soon.
For maximum public input the Bryan Group will also be having 16 community focus groups. If you would like to register for one of the focus groups go to WCSD Superintendent Search Input Opportunities. Another opportunity for the public to get involved is by filling out the community survey.
The Bryan Group said that the only feedback from prospective Superintendent candidates was that they see the conflict and the dysfunction of the Board as an impediment to applying.

3.07 WCSD Strategic Plan Reporting and update on Goal 3: Family and Community Engagement

Objective 3.1: Strengthen inclusive two-way communication and community engagement in order to foster authentic relationships and recover trust. WCSD was successful in increasing their media presence. YouTube subscribers and Facebook traffic increased by 60%.The media presence of the WCSD has had a large increase as well. All this begs the question: was it for positive or negative reasons for the increased interest?
The only push back was from Trustee Church who said that several media groups/individuals were excluded from virtual media events because they weren’t “invited media partners.” This happened to BBME when we wanted to be included on a virtual interview with Superintendent McNeil. The question is how does one become a media partner? BBME has asked the WCSD Communications Department that exact question and received no real feedback.

3.08 Review and direction on current Covid mitigation measurements regarding face coverings.

UPDATE: As of 2/10/2022, Governor Sisolak rescinded the mask mandate and the WCSD will make masking optional for all staff and students.

McNeill reminded the audience that WCSD’s population is above 100,000, unlike Carson and Douglas Counties, who have decided to unmask their students. In the Governor’s Directive 048, school districts with less than 100,000 population may adopt their own face covering policies. All concerned with this issue we would advise you to contact Governor Sisolak At https://gov.nv.gov/forms/share and by phone, the Carson City # is (775)648-5670 and the Las Vegas # is (702)486-2500.
The Covid risk meter for WCSD is still “very high.” Case rates still exceed 500 per 100,000 for a 7 day period. The case rates for a MONTH should be 50. Also, the current transmissibility rate in Washoe county is 30%, which is in the “High”. The low transmission guideline from the Department of Health and Human Services is below 8%.
The Board has received a deluge of emails from the community asking for them to make masks optional.
After a robust discussion among the Trustees, the Board ultimately made a motion for the Superintendent to work in conjunction with the Washoe County Health Department to develop a plan to submit to the Governor asking for more local control over Covid 19 mitigation in schools. The goal is to implement this new plan after Spring Break 2022.

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