Douglas County School Board meeting: "Let's get back to the kids!"

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Nev. - The Douglas County School Board (DCSB) held a special meeting on Thursday to correct their actions the previous week when there was a violation of the Open Meeting Law (OML).

During their March 13 meeting, new board member Yvonne Wagstaff made a motion Tuesday to select Jeanne Dwyer as superintendent, and the motion passed 5-0 with current Board President David Burns and Past President Susan Jansen abstaining. Since this item was not on the agenda, it was a violation of OML and the vote was not stopped by DCSB legal counsel Joey Gilbert or his staff.

The special meeting this week was to correct that vote, and put it on the agenda, as well as finishing an unaddressed agenda item. While the unaddressed item was on the new agenda, Dwyer's hiring was not, much to the dismay of many board members and the public.

Some of the meeting was spent pointing fingers as to whose fault the OML error was. Jansen said she knew "all along" there was an OML violation but did not want to tell anyone, especially the brand-new board member who made the motion.

The meeting was sometimes very tense and uncomfortable to watch.

Burns scolded Wagstaff and lectured her on the Dwyer nomination. Wagstaff thought her motion was valid since she stated: "in lieu of a search process." She said she thought she was doing it correctly, but Burns did not let up.

"I made a mistake, I screwed up," said Gilbert of owning the error. He also said he would "not be billing a penny" for the special meeting due to not advising the board to stop the vote during the previous meeting.

The Nevada Attorney General gave the DCSB 30 days to correct the OML violation, and they corrected the missed agenda item.

The two items on Thursday's agenda:

3. Appointment of Acting Superintendent to Superintendent of Schools (Information Only). Description: At the March 12, 2024, Regular Board Meeting, the board took action and voted on appointing Acting Superintendent, Jeannie Dwyer, to the permanent position of Superintendent on Agenda Item 6. This action was in violation of open meeting law, and therefore the action/vote is null and void, as a matter of law.

4. Search Process for Superintendent SG-G (Discussion and For Possible Action). Description: The Board will deliberate and make decisions regarding the procedure for selecting a new District Superintendent. Consideration may be given to the option of engaging a national search firm. The Board will explore and define specific steps and a timeline they will follow in the process.

They discussed Item 3 after public comment, but it was for information only and no vote was allowed.

Public comment had resident after resident voicing concern about the Board, Gilbert, and the Dwyer issue not being on the agenda for a vote. At times, the heated comments led Burns to tell the audience he'd have them thrown out if they clapped for comments, or disrupted the meeting. There can be no dialog between the board and the public during public comment, except for clarification, or it is another violation of the OML.

For the first time, it was mentioned that 13 candidates for the superintendent job turned in applications after the original January 6, 2024 deadline when nine candidates applied. Since there was a deadline it is unclear why they are going to be considered at this time, especially before Dwyer can be discussed as the next superintendent.

Trustee Linda Gilkerson asked the rest of the board if they had reached out to any of the 13 candidates, or spoken to them to keep the process transparent, and they all said "no."

"You don't trust me, you'd don't trust me, you don't trust me," Gilkerson told Jansen, Burns, and Trustee Katherine Dickerson. Due to trust issues, Gilkerson said the community needs them to hire a search firm to hire a new superintendent if they don't hire Dwyer.

"The only way to gain trust in this community is to hire a firm," said Trustee Carey Kangas of the superintendent search process. "I want a national search."

Board member Doug Englekirk made a motion that was amended several times before one was fine-tuned enough, though confusing, for the other members to vote on it.

At first the motion was to distribute the 13 new applications by the April board meeting, rate them according to the same metric they previously used, and bring the top three plus Dwyer back to the board. Time changed to May meeting to allow adequate time, and added Dwyer to the mix of people looked at in May. If they don't hire anyone from the pool of 13 or Dwyer, then use a national search firm.

This passed 4-3 with Burns, Jansen, Dickerson, and Englekirk in favor.

Another amendment was added to the first to address appointing Dwyer as Superintendent. This amendment passed 4-3 with Gilkerson, Kangas, Wagstaff, and Englekirk in favor.

The original amendment was restated by Englekirk to distribute the 13 applications, plus the original application Dennis Holmes, and use the evaluation tools to bring back ratings by May. If not able to come out with a top candidate, hire a firm. But first, in April, bring up the hiring of Dwyer as superintendent on the agenda.

This passed 4-3 with Gilkerson, Kangas, Wagstaff, and Englekirk in favor.

"Right now Douglas County is the laughing stock of Nevada," said Wagstaff. "People that actually want to come to Douglas County aren't going to be the cream of the crop."

Most superintendent positions are filled long before this. Many candidates search in the fall so the hiring process can be finished well before the next school year since notice much be given to current districts.

"She has the trust of the people, she has the trust of the staff," Wagstaff said of Dwyer.

"110 percent stand behind Dwyer," said Kangas. "It would make a lot of people in the district feel and understand we are doing right by our district," he added of her hiring.

Closing comments showed the level of frustration among the public, with some saying the education of students is not being discussed at meetings and frustration with political agendas and not about student learning.

"Let's get back to the kids," said one.