School board president seeks reelection amid tumultuous time for CCSD

By April Corbin Girnus

Nevada Current

Clark County School District is currently without a permanent superintendent and chief financial officer and is facing public calls for legislative and state audits into financial misplanning that has allegedly left an unknown number of schools facing significant budget shortfalls.

It is a tumultuous time of transition for the fifth largest school district in the country. On that, most people seem to agree.

But what all this should mean for Clark County School Board President Evelyn Garcia Morales and her challenger, Tameka Henry, is up to voters to decide.

Garcia Morales is seeking a second term on the school board, which currently has six voting members, one vacant voting seat, and four non-voting appointed members. Members serve four-year terms.

“Looking at the landscape of the board, right now and into January, there will be loss of incredible knowledge if everyone is brand new,” says Garcia Morales.

Garcia Morales was the only incumbent to run for re-election out of the four trustees whose terms end this year. Trustees Lisa Guzman and Lola Brooks opted not to run for re-election despite being eligible. Katie Williams also did not file for re-election. She intended to finish out the remainder of her term but resigned last month after the Clark County District Attorney’s Office took action to have her removed following an investigation that found she no longer lives in Nevada.

Garcia Morales notes that if she is not reelected, the longest serving board member, Trustee Linda Cavazos, will have been there for seven years come January and everyone else on the board will have either two years or no experience on the board. Garcia Morales sees herself as offering some consistency for the board during a crucial time of transition.

But her challenger sees heavy turnover as exactly what the school board needs to get the school district on a better path.

“I haven’t seen a lot of improvement over the past four years,” said Henry, who also ran against Garcia Morales for the open seat in 2020 but lost. “I was hoping for more, but there’s still this divide on the school board.”

Henry was critical of former Superintendent Jesus Jara; Garcia Morales was largely supportive. Garcia Morales, as board president and as part of a four-member majority voting block, has been criticized for giving too much discretion to the superintendent, leading to lax oversight of district operations by the school board.

Garcia Morales declined to directly address some of the examples often cited by critics — such as Jara giving raises to his core cabinet months before leaving with a big payout of his own. She acknowledged it is “a point of contention” and suggested such narratives are being pushed by people with a specific agenda.

“It really makes me wonder, what’s the gain there?” she said. “If the desire of anybody is to have operational control of a system, what do they miss out on? What are they lacking? Is it control, so they get what they want, even at the cost of serving and supporting kids broadly? And who benefits the most from having that narrative exist?”

Garcia Morales continued to say that effective leaders don’t place blame on external policies, such as the governance models, and instead understand their role and the function of their board.

Henry sees it differently, arguing that “no other board governs this way.”

“The superintendent has more authority and say so than the actual board, which is supposed to be his or her employer,” she said. “This model really needs to be looked at, a deeper dive into it… There is opportunity to switch the governance model given the people who are running (for school board).”

Both candidates were interviewed by the Current prior to concerns being raised by individual principals and the teacher’s union about a potential budget deficit impacting an unknown number of CCSD schools. Gov. Joe Lombardo has called on the Department of Taxation and state legislators to evaluate or audit the district. The Nevada State Superintendent Jhone Ebert has also stepped in, issuing a series of questions to the district.

The Clark County Education Association has publicly called for an investigation into Garcia Morales and her potential knowledge of budget issues and Williams’ residency.

A debate over functionality

Garcia Morales believes the school board has increased its focus on student outcomes and seen improvements on set metrics like test scores and discipline rates.

“It’s not as fast as we’d like, but the progress is there,” she added.

Henry believes the district needs to improve its climate and culture, particularly if it wants to improve retention and recruitment.

“It’s time to start uplifting the positives — the gains, no matter how small,” she said. “The programs that are doing well, we need to replicate them and properly fund them.”

Henry said she also hopes the district might revisit and streamline some of the requirements imposed on nonprofits that want to provide community or wraparound services to students. Smaller organizations with a lot to offer are unable to because of requirements around insurance, she said.

“I understand protecting the data, and protecting our students is important,” said Henry, “but that’s a large price tag for smaller organizations that have the experience and evidence-based research behind them.”

Beyond their differences of opinion of how functional the school board currently is, Henry and Garcia Morales share some common traits. Both graduated from CCSD District C high schools and have children currently enrolled in the district.

Both women also have backgrounds advocating for under-resourced communities. Garcia Morales previously ran The Fulfillment Fund, a nonprofit focused on college access, though she has since left to start her own life and leadership company, called HumanKind Coaching. Henry is executive director of The Obodo Collective, a nonprofit focused on uplifting communities, and has board experience with Head Start, the federally funded free preschool program.

To get to this year’s general election, both women emerged from a five-person primary in June. Henry received the most votes, with 37.6 percent. Garcia Morales placed second with 29.1 percent of votes.

Henry raised approximately $23,000 during the first six months of the calendar year, according to campaign finance reports. Top contributors include political action committees affiliated with the Vegas Chamber and the Nevada State Education Association. Henry has also been endorsed by the Clark County Education Association.

Garcia Morales raised no money for her campaign, as of June 30. She told the Current she has simply prioritized her responsibilities on the board and within her family. She said she has faith that voters will know from her actions whether she is the type of leader they want.

The next round of campaign contribution and expense reports are due to the state by Oct. 15, four days before early voting begins.

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April Corbin Girnus is an award-winning journalist and deputy editor of Nevada Current. A stickler about municipal boundary lines, April enjoys teaching people about unincorporated Clark County. She grew up in Sunrise Manor and currently resides in Paradise with her husband, three children and one mutt.