After a lengthy discussion about COVID-19 trends in the county, the Washoe County School District Board of Trustees voted 5-2 to keep middle and high school students on distance learning until Jan. 19.
Trustees Andrew Caudill and Ellen Minetto voted against the plan to delay the return to hybrid learning, which was first proposed for Jan. 4. The decision to push back the return date was made in response to concerns about testing, contact tracing and a continuing substitute teacher shortage.
The district is currently short about 90 substitute teachers—mostly at the elementary level–as those students are still participating in in-person learning. Board President Malena Raymond said that although the school district is now able to hire people with only a high school diploma or GED to be substitute teachers, thanks to an emergency regulation signed by Gov. Steve Sisolak, there is concern that there could still be a staffing shortage if secondary students returned Jan. 4.
Licensing and background checks for substitute teachers take between six and eight weeks and is only good for one year. The school district is working with the region’s higher education institutions to recruit college students to help fill the need—a move that gave some trustees pause, as COVID-19 rates among college-aged people have been notably high.
The emergency regulation allowing the hiring of substitute teachers with diplomas and GEDs is set to end on Feb. 24. Such emergency regulations are only approved for 90-day periods. But the school district will be working with the Nevada Department of Education to attempt to get the regulation re-implemented when it expires.
Despite staffing shortages, the board voted to move forward with the approval of an early separation incentive program for certified and professional-technical employees that could result in more than $1 million in savings to the district. The program could result in the early retirement of 51 certified teachers and several administrators.
Trustee Katy Simon Holland voted against the plan, saying that it would result in the early retirement of experienced teachers who would likely be replaced by substitute teachers who may have no college education. The district has repeatedly stressed that despite the relaxed standards for hiring substitutes, it is vetting individuals through its HR department to determine the most qualified of these candidates.
Budget shortfall, imminent new funding model discussed
Nevada law requires school districts to amend their budgets by Jan. 1 of each fiscal year to reflect their average daily enrollment counts. Board members heard and approved the augmented WCSD budget, which accounts for a decrease in revenue largely resulting from lower enrollment numbers.
Nearly $12.5 million of the total $13.36 million revenue shortfall is the result of a decrease to the district’s distributive schools account (DSA)—the state and local funds the district receives based upon the number of students enrolled. The funding formula that determines how much is paid into the DSA is called the Nevada Plan.
The Nevada Legislature approved the Nevada Plan more than 50 years ago. At the time, the state’s population was fewer than 500,000 people. It’s since climbed to more than 3 million—and the Nevada Plan, long criticized for its complicated nature, is being replaced with a new funding formula in 2021.
The board heard from Chief Financial Officer Mark Mathers and Director of Government Affairs Lindsay Anderson about the implications of the new funding model.
In 2019, the Nevada Legislature passed Senate Bill 543, the objective of which was to replace the Nevada Plan with a modernized and easier to understand one that is also more student-centered. The new plan will replace a number of categorical programs—Read by Grade 3, Zoom, Victory, etc.—that were implemented over the years under the Nevada Plan. They’ll be replaced by “weighted” funding categories of students, including special education, English learners, Gifted & Talented students and “at risk learners”—though, according to Mathers’ and Anderson’s report, this final category has not been clearly defined.
Mathers and Anderson pointed out both positive and negative implications for WCSD under the new plan.
Another positive, they said, is that school districts will now be completely funded by the state, with the exception of federal revenues and capital funding. It will also mean that funding for education stays in education because any excess revenues will remain in the new fund—unlike with the DSA, in which excess revenues revert to the state’s General Fund and serve to reduce the State General Fund’s share of K-12 funding.
According to their report, one of the positives of the new plan is that weighted funding will be “institutionalized” and provide “permanent funding, versus categorical grants that have had to be re-appropriated each biennium.”
The biggest negatives of the new funding plan, according to Mathers and Anderson, are that WCSD would likely see a reduction in its funding and that the plan does nothing to increase funding for education in the state.
WCSD could receive less funding because SB543 “allows for a Cost Factor Adjustment to provide greater funding for districts in regions that have a higher cost of living or in competitive labor markets.”
Mathers explained that despite providing evidence, “including U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis statistics showing that Washoe County has the highest cost of living in the state, the state’s consultant calculated different results.”
He said this could result in a shift of millions of dollars away from the school district.
The plan also does nothing to address the adequacy of funding for education in Nevada. Mathers noted there is a current lawsuit filed by parents as a part of an advocacy groups against Nevada seeking to address education funding, which has long been considered by many to be insufficient and has been tied by some to Nevada’s low rankings in educational achievement.
Changes to sex education questioned
The board also took up the issue of proposed changes to sex education for WCSD students. The district’s sex education plan is called the Sexuality, Health and Responsibility (SHARE) plan. It is formulated by an advisory committee, which includes parents.
Among proposed changes to sex ed proffered by the advisory committee was the addition of language to sections concerning abstinence to include that “pregnancy most commonly results from vaginal sex.”
Trustee Minetto asked why the words “most commonly” would be included in the addition but was told by Rochelle Proctor, SHARE Coordinator, that there was not a specific answer to this. Proctor said the language was decided upon by the committee after much discussion.
“You and I know [intercourse] doesn’t just happen, but in their minds it does.”
During the discussion, Trustee Minetto and Board Vice President Angie Taylor both said they think the Crisis Pregnancy Center should be included in the list of resources presented to students in sex ed, while Trustee Caudill argued that Planned Parenthood is a controversial organization that should not be advertised to students by the district.
Crisis Pregnancy Center is a resource center where women can get pregnancy testing, parental advice and help with adoption services. It and others like it around the country have been criticized by some for allegedly not being forthright in disclosing pro-life agendas.
Trustees Caudill and Minetto both expressed concern over sex ed language for seventh graders describing activities like partners bathing together and mutual masturbation as “low risk” when it comes to sexually transmitted diseases. Both pointed out that these activities could lead to children going further than intended and having actual intercourse.
“I have issues for lack of other words with the bathing and the masturbating for the seventh grade,” Minetto said. “They’re very immature. They’re very young. … You and I know [intercourse] doesn’t just happen, but in their minds it does.” The board approved the changes.
