Bill seeking to change make-up of school boards meets opposition in Washoe County
RENO, Nev. (News 4 & Fox 11) — First term Nevada Assemblyman Toby Yurek from Henderson says it's time to change the way we select school board trustees.
"It is an attempt to tackle this issue at a high level," he said.
Yurek's bill, AB 175 is co-sponsored by Assemblywoman Shannon Billbray-Axelrod and originally called for appointing three non-voting members to the school board, in addition to the seven elected trustees on a statewide basis.
"What we're looking to do is hopefully bring some expertise and some experience to the board," he told News 4.
But the bill is not going over well with everyone. Some members of the Washoe County School Board question why they were never consulted before the legislation was introduced.
Trustee Adam Mayberry is one of them.
"None of the sponsors came to me or spent time in our district which was a little puzzling, Mayberry said.
Mayberry says while there has been no shortage of controversy involving the Washoe County School Board in recent years, he feels trustees and the district's new superintendent have made major strides.
"That's the feedback I get that we have strong leadership and that we're laser focused on improving academic performance," Mayberry said.
And that message has been heard in Carson City. Since our interview with Assemblyman Yurek, the bill has been revised so that it now only includes Clark County.
As the bill's author quickly learned, there was simply no appetite for making the change in Washoe.
Yurek admitted he doesn't know of anyone in Washoe County who supports the idea of appointing some school board members.
He says he welcomes all the input he's getting and he realizes the bill he introduced may not closely resemble the finished product.
Even as a brand new legislator, he's already realized that's how the system works.
"Everybody's gone to school," he said. "So everybody has a frame of reference which I feel invites a lot of people to participate in the discussion and I love it."
AB 175 has been heard several times in the Education Committee but no formal vote has been scheduled yet.
