Nevada Association of School Boards -

How are you growing as a school leader? Each year, NASB hosts numerous professional development opportunities for school board trustees, like this January workshop where participants explored Emergenetics. They were able to gain insights into thinking processes, which fosters collaboration. Visit https://www.nvasb.org/ to learn more about upcoming professional learning opportunities!

Tyler Viani, from Mineral County, has successfully completed his Certified Public Officials Certification. We extend our congratulations to Tyler for this significant achievement. His recognition took place at the President's Workshop in Las Vegas, where he was honored by President Wade Poulsen and President-Elect, Mike Walker.

Important survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NRSJB9B Your Ideas Needed for Our 2025 Legislative Platform Dear Trustee, We value your input and are excited to involve you in the process of shaping our 2025 legislative platform. Our first step in this journey is to identify the key topics and issues that you believe we should address. We want to emphasize that no idea is too small or too big. Your perspective matters, and we encourage you to share any thoughts or suggestions you may have. To kickstart this collaborative effort, we have created a brief survey below designed to gather your ideas. Your participation will help us lay the foundation for our legislative priorities in 2025. Once we have collected all the ideas, we will begin the process of narrowing down our focus to create a comprehensive and impactful legislative platform. Thank you in advance for your valuable contributions. Together, we can make a significant difference, and we eagerly anticipate your input. If you have any questions or require further information, please let me know. Thank you, Rick Harris Executive Director Nevada Association of School Boards

Thank you to Beth Smith of Washoe County School Board for sharing her photos and experiences with us after our NASB conference in December. Beth writes, "Each year, trustees from all 17 NV counties gather to share ideas, learn together, and connect at the Nevada Association of School Boards conference. I was honored to present alongside renowned professor Dr. Thomas Alsbury on Balanced Governance and how our Board commits itself to this approach which emphasizes respectful engagement, altruistic service, and informed oversight. As leaders of a learning organization, we recognize that improvement starts with us. Thank you, NASB for a wonderful event!" We're grateful for our school board partners around the state, and for being able to support Nevada students through their hard work.

Please let us know if you are interested in serving on the Teachers and Leaders Council (TLC). The council is made of 16 members, two of which are members of boards of trustees of school districts who are nominated by the Nevada Association of School Boards and then selected and appointed by the Governor (NRS 391.455). The Teachers and Leaders Council makes recommendations to the State Board relating to a statewide performance evaluation system that ensures that teachers, administrators, counselors, librarians, and other licensed educational personnel employed by school districts are evaluated using multiple, fair, timely, rigorous, and valid methods including evaluations based on student achievement data; that they are given a meaningful opportunity to improve their effectiveness through professional development; and that they are provided the means to share effective educational methods with their peers. The appointment is for a 3 year-term, and the member will be expected to attend 4-5 meetings per year (currently conducted virtually). More information about the TLC can be found on the TLC website:https://doe.nv.gov/Boards_Commissions_Councils/Teachers_and_Leaders_Council/. If you are interested and have at least 3 years left on your term, please email Kathryn Whitaker and Rick Harris by June 14, 2023.

Save the Date NASB Day at the Nevada Legislature March 10, 2023, 401 S. Carson St, Carson City, NV 89701 7:00 AM to 12:30 PM

NASB Orientation, Part III, March 11, 2023, Staybridge Suites, 972 Retail Ct, Carson City, NV If you are planning on attending this workshop and want to stay at the Staybridge, Suites, reservations must be made by February 13, 2023. Administrative Assistants have the booking link.

Save the Date! Our annual conference will be December 1 & 2 at the Westin Lake Las Vegas

Board Members from across all of Nevada attended the NASB Orientation II workshop in Reno. The workshop focused on many topics including preventing and identifying violence in schools.

Don't forget about tomorrow's NASB Orientation, Part II session. We begin at 8:30am at the Aloft Hotel in Reno. See you there!

Eagle Mark Savings Bank recognized by NASB For many years, Eagle Mark Savings Bank has made substantial donations to the Carson City School District directed to benefit students in the McKinney-Vento Program, who are students in transition who lack stable housing. This year Eagle Mark Savings Bank requested a meeting with the new McKinney-Vento director to address the current needs. Director Christie Perkins explained the lack of affordable housing for unaccompanied youth, and that since the pandemic, Carson City had the highest yet number of unaccompanied youths. After the meeting, Eagle Mark Savings Bank surprised Carson City with a donation of $50,000 (5 times the amount of previous years) and directed Carson to use the donation to provide stable housing for unaccompanied youth. Through their donation, the district partnered with Spirit of Hope and secured stable housing for 5 unaccompanied students. Eagle Mark’s generosity allows these students to have stability and focus on graduation and future goals. Additionally, Eagle Mark Savings Bank generously sponsored approximately 150 students in the district’s JumpStart program. This funding will open doors for students to earn college credit and graduate from high school with their associate’s degree—many who are first generation college students. Eagle Mark Savings Bank/Harley Davidson saw a need for students in the community and stepped up to literally change the lives of students in Nevada. NASB is grateful to recognize Eagle Mark Savings Bank/Harley Davidson as a Friend of K-12 Education.

This year’s NASB Board Support Staff Person of the Year award goes to Jennifer “JJ” Batchelder, who serves as the Board Service Coordinator in Washoe County. Mrs. Batchelder has served in this position since 2013 and is an expert in the role. Her knowledge and ability to recall or research previous Board activities provides outstanding support to the Board of Trustees and her community. She is exceptionally organized—she manages and supports Board meetings, policy meetings, and committee meetings. She coordinated the virtual meetings and the transition back to in-person meetings. She promoted an online public comment process that makes hundreds of public comment emails available to board members as well as the public to further the district’s efforts to be accountable and transparent. Mrs. Batchelder accomplished this while also coordinating in- person public comments, taking minutes, and providing support during meetings. Moreover, Mrs. Batchelder treats everyone—trustees, community members, and staff—with respect and concern. For her contributions to the Washoe County School District, the board members, the superintendent, the staff members, students, families and community members, JJ Batchelder is the NASB Board Support Staff Person of the Year.

NASB held their September joint meeting of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors last Friday. The meeting was very productive and busy with legislative updates, analysis and review of three different bylaws, numerous reports, and building the first draft of the calendar for 2023.

15 of the 17 School Districts in Nevada were represented at the professional learning opportunity in Las Vegas over the weekend. Collaborating and focusing on the importance of positive board relationships were some of the highlights. Check out the team photo!

Sarah Roberson, Senior Education Advisor for Apptegy had a dynamic presentation at NASB recent professional learning opportunity in Las Vegas that focused on best practices for Marketing and Branding.

NASB had a fantastic workshop this weekend with four of our past Presidents sharing ideas and strategies. Thank you Wade Poulsen, Stacie Wilke, Bridget Peterson, and Laurel Crossman.

Whether you are a School Board that is functioning at a high level or a School Board trying to move forward after the rough years with the pandemic and other challenges, the key is to not live in the past but to look forward with possibility and create the future. We want to provide Board members with positive tools: positive authors, inspirational stories, positive websites, and positive ideas. This month we are recognizing the dynamic author, Jon Gordon. Mr. Gordon’s books focus on leadership, culture, and teamwork. The Energy Bus and The No Complaining Rule are two of his best books and were both bestsellers.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Angela McVicars - White Pine Country School District School Board Member. I have 3 kids, a junior, a freshman, and a 6th grader. I ran for school board to make things better for not only my kids, but for all kids in White Pine County School District! My full time day job is doing hair. I have been the board chair for the past 3 years. I am in my 2nd term and still feel like I’m learning. It was a very steep learning curve. I quickly learned after joining the board that there are many things as a board member we don’t control. The state has many mandates and laws that are passed down to us to implement into our district and policies. WPCSD has been a great place to be during the last few years and the pandemic, I feel very fortunate that our students have been able to stay in school full time with little disruption in learning.

Click on the following link to view the Nevada Association of School Superintendents 2022-2023 meeting calendar: https://5il.co/1d54h

Nevada Superintendent News: The Nevada Association of School Boards would like to take this time to recognize Dr. Kristen McNeill from the Washoe County School District and Richard Stokes from Carson City School District who are both retiring at the end of this school year. Both Mr. Stokes and Dr. McNeill have worked tirelessly for the betterment of the students and the communities that they have respectively served for many years. It is the hope of NASB that they both enjoy this next chapter in their lives. Thank you both for your dedicated service. NASB would also like to take this time to welcome new Superintendents Mr. Andrew Feuling and Dr. Susan Enfield . Mr. Feuling continues on with Carson City School District having been their fiscal services director for many years. Dr. Enfield comes to the Washoe County School District from the Highline Public Schools in the state of Washington where she is currently their Superintendent. NASB would like to congratulate Dr. Enfield and Mr. Feuling on their Superintendent appointments and wish them the best as they continue the important work ahead.