The Clark County School District could have its next permanent superintendent in place by Nov. 1, the school board said Wednesday.
The board didn’t say it had any specific candidates or discuss what it’s seeking in its next hire. Rather, it set the goal date while refining its advertisement seeking a search firm that will help it gather community feedback on the district’s potential next chief executive.
Posting a request for proposals from search firms is an early key step in hiring a successor to Jesus Jara, who resigned in February after nearly six years at the head of CCSD.
After the request for proposals’ language has been finalized, the district procurement office will post the notice.
The procurement office will collect applications for the board, which will choose its top two or three potential firms to interview. The board will then meet to review these interview questions, then meet again to question the finalists and select one to sign a contract. All of these meetings will be public.
Although the board gave a sense of the steps it still needed to undertake to find a search firm, it did not set deadlines for when those steps should be completed. Board President Evelyn Garcia Morales said she would collaborate with the board’s liaison to CCSD’s central office to build the timeline by working backwards from the desired Nov. 1 start date.
Community sentiment so far has favored a nationwide search, but the board still has not committed to a national versus local search. The firm will help the board determine how far and wide to advertise the superintendent job.
The board is basing the request for proposals off the one used to select the search firm that ultimately led to Jara’s hiring in 2018. The previous document generally said search firm proposals would be evaluated on criteria such as experience and success in conducting similar work; adequacy of resources including personnel and financial stability; depth, breadth and clarity of the proposal; and cost.
State honors for local STEM programs
The Governor’s Office of Science, Innovation and Technology recently recognized eight CCSD schools as Governor Designated STEM schools.
The 2024 Governor Designated STEM schools are Abston Elementary, Cartwright Elementary, Guinn Middle, Heard Elementary, Hoggard Math and Science Magnet Elementary, Rancho High, Southeast Career and Technical Academy and West Career and Technical Academy. They joined 19 schools that have previously been so recognized.
The designation honors schools of all levels around the state for their focus on science, technology, engineering and math curriculum.
Additionally, the Governor’s Office of Science, Innovation and Technology and the Nevada Department of Education recognized Dana Cuni, a teacher at Southwest Career and Technical Academy, as Southern STEM Teacher of the Year, and Claire Romzek, a magnet coordinator at Lied STEM Academy middle school, as Southern STEM Advocate of the Year.
Robotics teams advance
Three of the six Nevada teams to go to the First Robotics World Championship this month are from Las Vegas schools.
The Highrollers from Cimarron-Memorial High School, Cyber Vipers from Desert Oasis High and Pair of Dice Robotics from Southeast Career and Technical Academy will travel to Houston for the April 17-20 competition. Teams from Reno, Carson City and Virginia City will also compete.
Additionally, four Nevada First Lego League squads — students who are newer to robotics — will advance to out-of-state invitational competitions this summer after winning at state championship events. The Bowler Dazzle Bots from Grant Bowler Elementary in Logandale in May will head to the Western Edge Open in Long Beach, Calif. MARC from The Adelson School in June will head to the Florida Sunshine Invitational in Daytona Beach, Fla. And the Doral Dragons Red Team from Doral Academy Pebble Campus, along with the Wolf Pack Bots, a community team from Reno, in June will head to the WPI Open in Worcester, Mass.
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