Bipartisan team wants to ensure Clark County School District reorganization proceeds uninterrupted

CARSON CITY — The leadership of both parties in both houses of the Nevada Legislature want to ensure the reorganization of the Clark County School District proceeds uninterrupted.

Assembly Bill 469 is an attempt to head off a lawsuit filed by the Clark County School Board challenging the process by which the reorganization legislation has been implemented. The lawsuit has been filed in Carson City District Court. The bill was introduced in the Assembly late Monday on the deadline for bill introductions.

The bill would put the reorganization regulations passed using the interim legislative process into state law, making a legal challenge to the adoption process by the school board moot.

The bill was introduced by Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, Assembly Minority Floor Leader Paul Anderson, Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford and Senate Minority Leader Michael Roberson.

“We are proud to introduce legislation that will ensure Southern Nevada schools spend the proper and necessary resources on our children through statutes instead of regulations,” said a joint, bipartisan statement by the Senate and Assembly leadership. “By shifting to statutes, we provide stakeholders with the stability necessary to spend resources where they are needed most.

“Through bipartisan teamwork, we are confident that this bill will achieve our shared goal of putting Nevada’s students first,” the statement said.

MOVING FAST

AB469 is scheduled to be heard in front of the Joint Committee on Education at 6 p.m. Wednesday and could be on Gov. Brian Sandoval’s desk by early next week.

Anderson said Tuesday the bill will be processed quickly without amendments.

“The key for us is we have to keep this thing rolling,” he said. “They may have some issues. That’s fine. We can look at that.”

Anderson said a trailer bill addressing school district concerns is anticipated once AB469 is approved.

“We’re certainly not against some of the suggestions they have made, but not under the threat of a lawsuit,” he said.

Anderson said district officials have visited with all legislative leaders “to ask for certain things that were simply not going to work.”

“All they were trying to do is obstruct the progress of the reorganization,” he said.

THE LAWSUIT

The district’s lawsuit seeks to halt the regulation that dictates how the overhaul must be done. Clark County trustees have consistently highlighted issues with the regulation, which requires the reorganization to be rolled out by August.

The lawsuit says partly that the Legislature has violated the state constitution by delegating its authority to the interim study committee that implemented the legislation contained in Assembly Bill 394 from the 2015 session.

The district also has had concerns with an unfunded mandate to spend more than $1 million on a contract to help with the implementation.

Anderson said the funding issue will also be clarified so that it is a funded mandate.

The reorganization of the nation’s fifth-largest district gives more power to schools, which will be run by organizational teams consisting of parents, teachers and staff.

ESA BILL

The Senate on Monday also introduced a bill that would implement the Education Savings Account program providing parents with state funds to send their children to private schools. Senate Bill 506 comes after Democratic leaders said Friday that they would not hear a similar measure introduced by state Sen. Scott Hammond, R-Las Vegas. The Senate Education Committee introduced the new measure.

Contact Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-3820. Follow @seanw801 on Twitter.