Humboldt County school board trustees discuss position on political posturing

Politics tends to bleed into just about any important aspect of life, including education. With politically charged elements of curriculum becoming requirements for graduation, expectations for teachers, and certain legislation passing, making sure that the district can be there for every student, despite politics, has become increasingly important. 

The Humboldt County School District (HCSD) Board of Trustees met for their regular meeting on Sept. 27 and with Chairwomen Glenda Deputy and Vice Chairman Abe Swensen absent, discussed the implementation of a resolution that declares HCSD politically neutral. 

The HCSD Board Memo states “With the increasing nature of the polarization of politics in Nevada and throughout the County, education has seen an increase in the level of politicalization of instruction in schools. As an educational institution, Humboldt County School District believes that every student should feel safe within our schools. The infusion of political positions will not be tolerated by the district, and the opinions, backgrounds, beliefs and understanding of all individuals will be respected while assuring that there is no negativity towards others that have differing positions. We believe in discourse around key state, federal and national issues which are fact based and do not provide political posturing.”

“Everything in our country has become so political and unfortunately education has not been exempt from those political conversations… We have made a very clear point that we are all about the kids and we are not going to get mired into these controversial issues, ” said HCSD Superintendent, Dr. Dave Jensen. 

 Due to the absence of Board members, no action was taken to approve or deny the resolution as of yet. 

In other HCSD news:

• Grass Valley Elementary (GVE) student, Miranda Wilson, was honored for her perfect attendance record for the 2021-2022 school year. 

• GVES Principal, Amber Westmoreland, and GVES Vice Principal, Pam Barber, presented an update regarding strategic planning, academic programming, social emotional learning, and school operations at Grass Valley Elementary School. 

Principal Westmoreland identified unique teams and leadership groups at GVES that help with the coordination of events, family engagement, marketing and communication, assemblies, materials and school environment, social and partnership, and social emotional and wellness. The committees are self-selected and meet every other Wednesday during Professional Development, or early release days, according to Westmoreland. 

• The Board approved a Restorative Discipline Plan, which creates a comprehensive plan regarding how to handle discipline when transporting students and discipline regarding alternative placement for students. Both are consistent with Nevada Revised Statutes and required by legislation passed during the 2019 session. 

•  The Trustees approved a motion that designates critical needs status for substitute teachers. The HCSD anticipates that the current demand for substitute teachers will increase with the onset of flu and cold season, so in order to secure teachers, the HCSD is putting in a request to have the critical needs designation with the Public Employee’s Retirement System (PERS) approved, which would allow retired employees to substitute teach within the first 90 days of their retirement period. According to Jensen, current laws prevent retired teachers from collecting compensation for 90 days, which means they cannot be utilized as subs for three months, putting them in a “deadzone”.

Dr. Jensen, explained that if the request is approved by PERS, it will simply mean that the district can utilize retired employees as substitute teachers quicker. 

• The Board discussed properties owned by the district and evaluated the cost of selling the properties. Only those district-owned properties that are used for educational purposes are tax exempt, according to HCSD Legal Counsel, John Doyle. The district owns many small properties without any sort of infrastructure. The current tax rates for all of the properties that are taxable total up to  just under 10,000 dollars per year, and in order to sell the properties, each must be appraised by two different appraisers. Based on calculations, it would cost far more to have the properties appraised that it costs to retain the properties. 

The Board voted to retain all propers besides their largest and most expensive property tax wise on railroad street.