Superintendent Lewis's voluntary resignation lone item at special Douglas County School District meeting

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Nev. - Douglas County parents, teachers, and staff have made their opinions known about the much beloved Superintendent Keith Lewis. Hours of public comment at several board meetings have supported Lewis who found himself at odds with the new members of the board and the new legal counsel for the district.

On the agenda:

The Board will consider a request by Superintendent Keith Lewis to approve his voluntary resignation as Superintendent and to authorize payments in accordance with his Employment Agreement. Superintendent Lewis seeks this approval voluntarily and warrants that he is doing so of his own free will and that he has not been coerced into making this request.

In the event that Superintendent Lewis’s voluntary resignation is approved, the Board shall appoint the next most senior Executive Director as the acting superintendent until such time as the Board is able to follow its process and properly name a successor.

The new board and its new set of bylaws severely restricted Lewis' ability to effectively do his. He had his attorney work out an exit strategy prior to the board's October 6 meeting where they were to vote to accept his resignation. That motion failed 3-4 and Lewis said he'd stay on but his family would be the end determination if he'd stay.

The District's new counsel Joey Gilbert had pulled Lewis aside following a previous contensious meeting, telling the superintendent he couldn't manage the board, and that to get the "district back on course" he should terminate his employment agreement.

The severance agreement that the board will be voting on includes the following:

Lewis will resign his position as Superintendent effective immediately following the payment of the PERS benefits and accepted by the Public
Employee’s Retirement System so that Lewis will thereafter be able to retire
with 30 years of public service. Lewis will waive the 90-day notice period.

The District shall continue to pay to Mr. Lewis his salary up through July 31, 2024.

The District shall continue to make contributions to Lewis’ salary to the
Public Employees’ Retirement System up through July 31, 2024.

The District shall pay Lewis, in a lump sum for any unused paid time off.

The District shall pay Lewis' COBRA benefits.

Lewis agrees that he will not personally participate in any effort to recall the existing Trustees (save and except his right to vote in any recall election), and he will refrain, for a period of three years from the Effective Date of this Agreement, from initiating any contact with any officer or employee of the District for the specific purpose of interfering with the Trustee’s efforts to direct the operations of the District.

"The public will be invited to make comments on issues on the agenda prior to a vote by the Board on all action items, where such comments shall be limited to one minute per person. Anyone with comments on that action item that will take more than one minute is encouraged to put their testimony in writing and provide a copy to the Board prior to or at the meeting," states the agenda.

The November 1 at 11:30 a.m. meeting will be held at the Airport Training Center, 1126 Airport Road Building G-1, Minden and will be available on Zoom at https://dcsd-k12.zoom.us/j/81201285300 Passcode: Nov23 Or Telephone: +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) Webinar ID: 812 0128 5300 Passcode: 585051.