School Board Trustees:
We are your employees,
we are your constituents!
By CCEA President Ruben Murillo, Jr.
Back in the day, School Board Trustees were very involved in the daily operation of the Clark County School District (CCSD). They had their fingers in every decision that impacted teachers, administration, parents, and students. Since then, the Trustees have adopted a “Policy Governance” model that essentially makes the Trustees an advisory board with final approval on decisions ALREADY MADE.
After determining that Trustees were declining opportunities to speak with CCEA regarding school climate issues, CCEA issued an invitation to all Trustees, at the January 12 School Board meeting, to speak to teachers regarding school climate issues.
CCSD took our invitation to the Clark County District Attorney’s office, and CCSD was advised not to speak to teachers regarding school climate issues, or any other issues, because that could be misconstrued as negotiating directly with employees and could lead to an unfair labor practice.
REALLY? Wow! So those InterAct pop-ups sent to teachers by Superintendent Dwight Jones regarding “Negotiations Updates” are allowable? And Trustees talking to teachers about school climate issues is not? What about those emergency meetings held in December by school principals delivering the ominous messages: 1) that if CCEA doesn’t agree to make concessions on salary and benefits, 1,000 teachers would be laid off; and 2) that CCSD would have to roll back all salary steps paid on experience and education in one paycheck? Oh, and while they’re at it, why not put those updates on the front of the CCSD webpage?
What we have here is a total abdication of authority by the School Board Trustees when it comes to communicating with their employees and constituents. Perhaps they are ashamed of the anti-labor language proposed by CCSD. I wonder what the Trustees will tell other labor organizations about their support for anti-teacher union language?
So, here’s what we want you to do: The invitation asked for the Board of Trustees to speak to teachers and listen about school climate issues. If they won’t talk to us, then we need you to contact the Trustees who represent the school where you work and the Trustee that represents the area of Clark County in which you live. Let them know of your working conditions, including the impact of programs such as Curriculum Engine, Common Core Standards, the Growth Model and other initiatives implemented by CCSD and how they are affecting your workload and workday.
According to the district attorney’s office, they are not to communicate with CCEA or teachers until the arbitration is complete, which could be the end of May, right before the June primary election. So until then, send them e-mails, letters, and make phone calls.
I wanted to report that we are reaching out to the community and parents to share with them what is going on in the classrooms. In the weeks ahead we will be organizing meetings in the community and inviting them to visit the classrooms. We doubt that the Board of Trustees will be able to ignore parents and dismiss the community as they have done with teachers.
Through the school telephone directory, which can be seen at www.ccsd.net, you can find out the name of the Trustee representing your school. If you don’t know the name of the Trustee that represents the area in which you live, you can get this information from the Elections Department website at http://www.clarkcountynv.gov/vote. When you e-mail the Trustees, please do so from a non-InterAct e-mail address and during non-contractual hours. Remind them: We are your employees, we are your constituents, and we will be heard!