CCSD board policy on nonvoting members draws legal challenge

The cities of Henderson and North Las Vegas are suing the Clark County School Board over its policy further restricting the powers of appointed nonvoting trustees, saying it violates the state law that put appointees in office in the first place.

The cities are seeking a judge’s order to repeal the policy that bars the appointees from making or seconding motions during meetings. The School Board adopted the policy immediately after the appointees took office in January.

Last year’s Assembly Bill 175 — a bipartisan legislative effort to add four advisory members to the seven elected members of CCSD’S often-fractured School Board — explicitly said the appointed members cannot vote or serve as board officers. But, although motions and seconds are predicates to voting, the bill did not say anything about making or seconding motions; it said that aside from not voting or serving as officers, appointees “shall have the same rights and responsibilities as voting members of the board of trustees.”

The Clark County Commission, along with the city councils of the county’s three largest cities — Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas — each appointed one member to the board. Las Vegas and Clark County are not petitioners in the lawsuit, but they also pushed back on the district policy earlier this year.

The board has opposed the hybrid concept from the beginning, saying the move stifles democracy and accountability.

The lawsuit, filed March 18 in Clark County District Court, echoes criticisms from the municipalities and state lawmakers who cosponsored AB 175: that the policy is counter to legislative intent and nothing in the law’s language allows CCSD to take away appointees’ rights to motions.

Nor does the School Board have the authority to enforce the policy, as school districts and their governing bodies are created by legislative acts and so “may only exercise powers conferred upon them by the Legislature,” according to the lawsuit.

The cities also said the new policy had the additional effect of curtailing the ability of nonvoting members to place items on

The board has opposed the hybrid concept from the beginning.

agendas. Under existing policy, if a School Board member requests an item be included on an agenda and that request is declined, the appeal process requires the requesting trustee to make a motion during a meeting that the item be included on a future agenda.

If an appointee’s request to place an item on the agenda is denied on the first attempt, there is no recourse.

“AB 175 is clear on its face,” the petition said. “The bill, now part of NRS 386.165, unambiguously states that, other than voting and serving as an officer of the Board, the nonvoting members ‘have the same rights and responsibilities as voting members.’”

The city managers of Henderson and North Las Vegas said the policy must be repealed for the benefit of their cities’ residents.

“The non-voting trustees serve as a voice for the citizens of the city, and the Board’s changes to governance policy stifle the non-voting trustees’ ability to have meaningful participation by not allowing them the opportunity to make motions,” Henderson City Manager Richard Derrick wrote in a declaration. North Las Vegas City Manager Ryann Juden separately signed a nearly identical declaration.

Ramona Esparza-stoffregan, Henderson’s appointee to the School Board, penned a declaration saying that she had attempted to discuss the policy at the Jan. 11 meeting, when it was still a proposal and before appointees officially lost the ability to make motions or seconds. However, the board president did not recognize her request to speak.

Board members approved the measure 5-2 on Jan. 25, with members Linda Cavazos and Brenda Zamora voting no.

A spokesman said the board did not comment on pending litigation.