Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Henderson-area seat draws eight candidates
District’s handling of COVID-19, bullying, funding cited as issues
Eight candidates are running to replace longtime Clark County School District Trustee Deanna Wright, who has represented the Henderson-area District A seat since 2008.
Wright cannot run again due to term limits.
Kari Deike
Kari Deike is a 30-year veteran teacher and librarian who says she’s seen the quality of education at CCSD steadily heading downhill.
“When you try to bring it up as a teacher, people don’t really listen to you,” she said. “I’d like to use my education and background to make some of the differences that could really help students.”
Specifically, she says she’d like to take a look at how challenging the district’s curricula are, as she believes lessons that are too easy put students at a disadvantage beyond high school, particularly in college, where they may find themselves in remedial classes. But first, the tone and direction of the board of trustees needs to change in order to refocus on student achievement, she said, pointing to a recent meeting in which trustees debated approving additional emergency powers for Superintendent Jesus Jara.
On possible budget reductions, Deike said it’s first important to spend existing funds wisely. Budget cut proposals that target the arts or libraries or other areas that impact students are often designed to rile up the public to raise more money, she said.
“We are facing tighter times, but it should not be taken out on the students,” she said.
Lisa Guzman
Lisa Guzman, executive director of the Education Support Employees Association and assistant executive director of the Nevada State Education Association, began her career in elementary education. With this experience, she said she believes she’ll bring a much needed teacher perspective to the board.
“I felt like somebody with my background needs to be sitting on the board,” she said.
Reflecting on the board’s recent meetings, Guzman said the district did not adequately prepare to close schools for COVID-19, even though many were aware it could be a possibility as early as January. She said as a trustee, she would have pushed for more information about the plan to close schools and shift to distance learning.
Of her district, Guzman said there are some well-equipped schools, and others who struggle to get what they need from the district. She said she’d like to highlight the good work being done at schools like Basic High by holding more trustee events and town halls on those campuses.
Amanda Kennedy
Guzman added she does not believe she’d have to quit her union jobs if elected trustee, but would recuse herself from work involving Clark County, and focus on northern Nevada instead.
Amanda Kennedy is a familiar face to many at CCSD, having served as the district’s communications director from 2011-2013. Prior to her district role, she worked as deputy communications director to then-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
She said she first decided to run for the seat as a parent of CCSD students, as well as a Henderson homeowner and business owner. But Kennedy said she now believes she can channel her experience in disaster response gleaned under Schwarzenegger to help the district manage the COVID-19 crisis.
“Moving forward, we need to be better prepared should we need to close schools again,” she said.
Kennedy last worked for the district during a time of budget reductions and says she recognizes she may be headed back just as schools are asked to make cuts again.
She said previous district leadership had tried too hard to make everyone happy, and that she sees her responsibility as an elected official to ask difficult questions, even if they may not be welcome by labor groups.
“Students are often very overlooked in adult conversations,” Kennedy said. “I want to be that voice for students.”
Liberty Leavitt
Liberty Leavitt was an administrator at CCSD up until last summer, when she parted ways with the district for the nonprofit Core, which serves underprivileged youth.
She says she’s spent her whole career in education, including as a social studies teacher in private, charter, magnet, and comprehensive schools, adding that she believes the district could better embrace the opportunity to work with and learn from charter schools.
“With my background, I have seen that a disconnect exists between our schools and our central office,” she said. “I really want to help bridge that gap.”
Leavitt added that as someone who regularly presented before the board, she knows that there’s time
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