Washoe County School District trustees on Tuesday voted to approve proposed fourth grade Sexuality, Health and Responsibility Education (S.H.A.R.E.) videos to replace a video previously approved. 

The proposed lesson, “So, What is Puberty?” contains two videos titled “The Physical Changes That Happen to Most Girls and Boys” and “The Physical Changes That Happen to Everyone.” This will replace the previously approved video titled “Every Body Curious: Puberty.” 

The first video discusses aspects of puberty for boys such as voice changes, sperm production, erections, growing muscles and body hair growth. For girls, it discusses aspects of puberty such as growing breasts, egg production and periods. The second video discusses the changes all people go through during puberty, such as growth spurts, an increase in body hair, stretch marks, genital growth, an increase in sweat production and acne. Neither video discusses sex or sexual reproduction, aside from the purpose of the changes (e.g., sperm and eggs are produced for the function of making babies). 

Trustee Colleen Westlake was the only trustee to vote against the videos. Though she complimented the committee for their selection of videos and the work they’ve put into the curriculum, she said she would still be voting no. 

“I’d like [the students] to retain their innocence for a little longer and not have exposure to all of this,” Westlake said. 

Trustee Jeff Church said he reached out to his constituents, especially those who identify as being conservative, regarding the proposed curriculum and said he received no negative feedback, leading him to vote yes. 

S.H.A.R.E. is an opt-in curriculum, meaning parents must give permission for their children to take part. To learn more about the S.H.A.R.E. curriculum, click here. 

Rezoning

Trustees voted to approve the rezoning of several elementary and middle schools in the Spanish Springs area due to overcrowding. The approval comes only a few years after rezoning took place in the same region and, in some cases, the same schools. 

In September, trustees voted in a split decision against building a new school in the area, opting instead for another bout of rezoning. The overcrowding at some schools, such as Bohach Elementary School, is significant, leading to the need for four different lunch periods, which is cited as a major problem for the school. 

Bohach Elementary is one of the region’s newest elementary schools. It opened in August 2020 to alleviate overcrowding in six nearby elementary schools. Now, however, it’s far more crowded than any other elementary school in the area with enrollment at nearly 120% capacity—despite spending millions to create portables soon after the school was built, as pointed out by Trustee Joe Rodriguez. 

The district owns property near Oppio Parkway and a design for a new school was completed, but ultimately trustees voted to rezone instead. The proposal presented Tuesday will redraw zone designations for Bohach, Beasley, Spanish Springs and Border elementary schools, and Shaw, Sky Ranch and Mendive middle schools. The presentation which includes rezoning maps can be viewed here. 

Prior to the rezoning, district staff hosted multiple meetings, including within the communities to determine what the schools needed individually. District officials reported the meetings were well attended by parents and school staff. 

Following those meetings, staff created several proposed maps for zoning changes. However, it became apparent that with the rezoning, some students who’d already been forced to switch schools once during the 2020-21 school year would be forced to switch again. 

To mitigate this, trustees voted to provide variances and transportation for one year to all affected fourth grade students so they can finish their fifth-grade year at Bohach during the 2024-25 school year. 

Several trustees also advocated for younger siblings of the students offered variances to be given the option to stay at Bohach for at least one year, so as not to force families to choose to either split up their children or require their fifth grader to switch schools for the second time for the sake of the younger sibling. The addition was accepted to the motion. 

Equity in middle schools

For middle school rezoning, the topic of equity was brought up by several trustees. Sky Ranch Middle School is also experiencing overcrowding and is currently at 101% capacity. While rezoning would place more students at Shaw Middle School, which is only at 66% capacity, it was pointed out by Trustees Joe Rodriguez and Adam Mayberry that Shaw lacks many resources. 

Troy Parks, the district’s chief academic officer, said that some of the smaller middle schools are unable to offer as many electives due to lower enrollment. He said that as soon as one school is granted something extra, such as funding for additional electives, other schools will want the same. 

“When I look at the problems that we’re trying to solve through rezoning, even-ing out the schools is one of the best solutions to creating equitable curriculum across the schools,” Parks said. 

Trustee Mayberry asked what can be done in the short term since Shaw is a specific school facing an equity issue. 

“It puts a lot of pressure on teachers to ‘double prep’ such as an English teacher teaching other electives,” Parks said.“Unfortunately, there is no easy solution and usually the solution involves our teachers taking more time to prep, and we can’t just keep giving more and more [funding] when the students aren’t there.”

Trustee Rodriguez agreed that Shaw is struggling.

“There is an equity issue at Shaw,” Rodriguez said. “We have math teachers teaching art classes. It’s not right, and it’s difficult, and there’s a lot of empty classrooms. They need electives, they need to be given something.”

“I hope going forward we can be mindful of our middle schools, specifically Shaw,” Mayberry said. 

Trustees voted unanimously to modify the zoning boundaries for the 2024-25 school year, with variances and transportation provided for students who were already rezoned once for Bohach Elementary to finish their fifth-grade year. 

Trustees deny position proposal due to superintendent resignation

Trustees voted to deny a proposal to create a new position for Chief of Schools due to Superintendent Susan Enfield’s recent announcement she would be leaving her position. 

The proposal was a part of organizational restructuring and would create a permanent position of Chief of Schools which would report to the superintendent. As part of the position, the Chief of Schools would directly supervise the elementary and secondary associate chiefs and would serve as a member of the superintendent’s executive leadership team. 

The salary was proposed at $183,000 with total compensation at $258,136. However, several trustees said they would not support the proposal because a new superintendent may want to restructure their office. Trustee Diane Nicolet said she was wary of the proposal and would like to see the decision postponed until a new superintendent is in place. 

Enfield has been superintendent for a little over a year, and recently received overwhelmingly positive remarks on her one-year review. Soon after, she announced her resignation, stating she would be moving back to Washington to spend time with family and pursue other opportunities in education. 

Her last day with WCSD will be Feb. 9, 2024. Trustees voted to deny the proposed creation of the Chief of Schools until a new superintendent can be hired. 

In other items

Trustees heard a presentation on a review of Strategic Plan Goal 2: Student Voice. Several Washoe County students came before trustees to participate in the presentation which discussed student demographics, JROTC enrollment, interscholastic activities and more. 

Trustees also heard a presentation on the first reading of the district’s Modernization Plan. The process for the modernization plan update began in September 2022 and has included several studies, assessments and presentations since that time. During assessments, it was determined that many buildings within the district are aging, with systems approaching end of life cycles, and that older schools are also the least equitable for students. Some recommended changes were discussed to update schools such as North Valleys High, create new elementary schools in Sun Valley and Stead and more. 

Trustees approved the purchase of new student devices for $411,600 as part of the IT device refresh program.

An agreement was approved with Performance Fact for $181,750 to implement and support of the Washoe County School District Strategic Plan.

Trustees voted to approve an application to the Nevada Department of Education to allow high school students who successfully complete Military Science III, a CTE course, to receive the academic health credit required for graduation.