‘This isn’t going away’: Teachers union plans another school board protest

Following a teacher protest Thursday night outside a Clark County School Board meeting, union officials say they’re planning another one later this month.

Clark County Education Association Executive Director John Vellardita said Friday that in addition to continuing with school-level rallies, another “large mobilization” is slated for the Aug. 24 board meeting and he expects a larger turnout.

“This is going to grow,” he said. “This isn’t going away. This isn’t going to end.”

There was a “very good turnout” with close to 4,000 educators at Thursday’s protest outside a district office on Flamingo Road, Vellardita said. Union members also packed the meeting room.

He said he hasn’t seen the level of frustration and anger being witnessed now, and doesn’t recall a time in recent memory when so many teachers have protested against the district and superintendent.

Collective bargaining — which has been underway since late March — has been contentious between the teachers union and district. The union represents about 18,000 licensed employees.

The district wasn’t immediately available to comment Friday.

In a Thursday night statement following the meeting, the district: “Everyone has the right to express themselves peacefully, but they do not have the right to block traffic, disrupt the business proceedings of a public body, or prevent public agency operations through ‘work actions.’”

Union leaders have continued “bad-faith efforts to bully the school district into accepting their financially questionable proposals that would put District finances into a deficit,” the district said.

The next negotiation sessions are scheduled for Aug. 17 and 18.

At a member meeting Aug. 26, union members will either ratify a contract — if an agreement has been reached — or decide whether to take “work actions,” Vellardita said.

During Thursday’s School Board meeting, trustees left the room three times amid chanting and yelling from union members. Police escorted one teacher out of the room and asked others to leave. Some attendees voluntarily left, while others stayed.

There were no arrests or citations, Clark County School District Police Lt. Bryan Zink said Friday.

Reaching a boiling point

A union representative made an announcement while trustees were in their third recess, saying union leadership was directing them to leave the room and continue protesting outside. Only a handful of people stayed.

After returning from a third recess, the board approved the consent agenda and heard one public comment, but adjourned before getting to other action items.

Vellardita said Friday he was only inside the meeting room for a couple of minutes, but thinks the frustration and anger among those in attendance “just reached a boiling point” and there was no more patience.

He said only one person provided a public comment, but he knows there were others who wanted to speak.

Board President Evelyn Garcia Morales said at the beginning of the meeting that due to crowds, they were making a modification to public comments to limit them to one minute each.

Police weren’t allowing more protesters inside the building shortly after 5 p.m., saying the meeting room was at capacity.

Vellardita said he saw several open seats in the meeting room, noting there were people not being allowed in when there were seats available.

Social media posts from School Board trustees

A couple of School Board trustees posted statements on X, formerly known as Twitter, about the protest and meeting.

Trustee Katie Williams posted a statement Friday: “Individuals are allowed to peacefully protest. When it gets to a point where they are disrupting meetings and traffic, then it’s just poor behavior and no longer falls under the guise of a ‘peaceful protest.”’

“It’s unfortunate that because a few individuals, not everyone was able to be heard,” she wrote. “Screaming at me doesn’t get me or anyone else to listen. If you want to make change, then you can’t just scream and stand in the middle of the road. Run for office, study policy, build relationships, and praise God. #CCSD”

Williams also posted multiple times on Thursday night. One of the posts read: “Forgive them Father. #JesusSaves”

Another post: “When your meeting gets protested and you have police escort your daughter to the car… ‘Mom, why do people not like you?’ Because Peanut, I try to make the place better for kids, and some people don’t like the way I try to do it. Try anyway. #CCSD”

Williams also retweeted a couple of posts, including one about defunding teachers unions and another that said, “break the union, break the union.”

In a Thursday night post on X, Trustee Linda Cavazos wrote: “I’m deeply sorry that I could not be at the board meeting tonight. Many inquiries sent to me, but I cannot answer in regard to who made the decision regarding public comment, as I was not there and officially unaware of non public discussions or board counsel advice.”

“A decision to clear the public from a public meeting is not an easy one, as the meetings are FOR the public,” she wrote. “Some situations are difficult. Personally, I do not like restricting public comment, and I never want to leave the dais unless absolutely necessary. Need more info.”

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton on X (formerly Twitter).