Jara says he weighed Fla. job but chose to remain

Clark County School District Superintendent Jesus Jara confirmed Tuesday he had been eyeing a superintendent position in Florida but now wants to remain in Southern Nevada.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel reported Tuesday that Jara asked the school board chair for Broward County Public Schools in Fort Lauderdale to be considered for the superintendent’s job.

But in a statement Tuesday provided to the Review-journal, Jara said that — while he was “urged” to apply for the job — he ultimately had told the Clark County School Board that he would remain in the district “to continue the work I started five years ago.”

“Clark County is my home, and I am committed to this community and our kids,” Jara said in his statement. “We are designing systems that previously did not exist and have assembled the team with the skills and talents to serve our kids and raise their academic performance.”

The Broward County School

Board is reopening its search for a new superintendent after extending its April 27 application deadline to May 16, according to the Sun Sentinel.

Broward County is the nation’s sixth-largest school district, with about 256,000 students. That’s slightly smaller than Clark County, which has more than 300,000 students.

District spokesman Tod Story said Tuesday that a Broward County school board member had reached out to Jara about the opportunity.

Jara decided to withdraw from consideration for the position, Story said.

Jara previously was deputy superintendent of Orange County Public Schools in Orlando, Florida, before he came to Clark County in 2018.

His tenure has been tumultuous in recent years. The Clark County School Board voted 4-3 to terminate his contract in October 2021 and then reversed course the following month.

The board voted 4-3 in October 2022 to extend Jara’s contract through June 2026 and increase his salary by $75,000 to $395,000 a year.

Under Jara’s contract, if the board decides to terminate the agreement, the district would need to pay out the remainder of the salary and benefits owed to him through the end of his contract term.

The Clark County Education Association released results of a survey last month saying 75 percent of teachers who responded have no confidence in Jara to make decisions on how to spend additional proposed state education dollars.