May 21, 2024 at 4:00 PM - Regular Board Meeting & Budget Hearing (Revised)

Description:  The Trustees reserve the right to take items in a different order to accomplish business in the most efficient manner and may combine two or more agenda items for consideration, remove an item from the agenda or delay discussion relating to an item on the agenda at any time.  

Description:  The public will be invited to make comments at this time on agenda action items, where such comments shall be limited to one and a half minutes per person.  Anyone with comments on action items that will take more than one and a half minutes is encouraged to put their testimony in writing and provide a copy to the Board prior to or at the meeting. These copies will not be read aloud, but will be added to the minutes of the meeting upon request.  

Description:   Special Counsel with Marquis Aurbach will present the findings and recommendations from his investigation. 

Description:  Information concerning the following consent items has been forwarded to each Board Member for study prior to this meeting.  Unless a Trustee or individual organization interested in one or more consent items has any questions concerning a particular item, the items are approved at one time by the Board of Trustees.  The Board President may defer action on such a particular matter or matters at his or her discretion, and may choose to place the same at the end of the regular agenda for separate consideration. 

Description:  Attached are Minutes of the Regular Board Meeting of April 9,2024 for review and approval. 

RECOMMENDATION: Approve the Minutes of the Regular Board Meeting of April 9, 2024.

Description:  A complete list of payments contained in Accounts Payable Special Vouchers numbers 2494, 2495, 2496, 2497, 2498, 2499, 8946, 8945, 8944, 8943 and Regular Run Voucher Numbers 8942 and 8941 are attached. Vouchers have been prepared in accordance to state law and copies of the Vouchers are available for review by the public at the Superintendent's office prior to the meeting.

RECOMMENDATION: Approve Special Run Voucher Numbers 2494, 2495, 2496, 2497, 2498, 2499, 8946, 8945, 8944, 8943 and Regular Run Voucher Numbers 8942 and 8941.

Description:  Listed on the Personnel Report No. 24-05 are personnel actions presented for consideration by the Board of Trustees.  Salaries for individuals employed will be determined in accordance with salary regulations of the District. 
 
RECOMMENDATION: Approve personnel actions in Personnel Report No.  24-05.

Description:  A complete list of budget adjustments made by the Director of Business Services during the recent course of business is provided for review and approval by the Board of Trustees as required by NRS 354.598005.

RECOMMENDATION:  Approve the Budget Voucher Adjustments as submitted. 

Description:  Monthly update on enrollment numbers for each school site is provided to the Board. 

Description:  The Board reviewed the Tentative Budget at its meeting held on April 9, 2024.  The District's Director of Business Services, Mrs. Susan Estes has prepared the Final Budget inclusive of known estimated revenues and projected expenditures for the 2024-25 school year and will present it for adoption as the Final Budget. 

RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that following the public hearing, the Board adopt the revised Tentative Budget as Final for 2024-2025.

Description:  Including prior year ending fund balance adjustments for the District's 2024-2025 December Amended Budget, Staff would like to review with the Board a revised five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) as required by Nevada Revised Statute(NRS) 354.5945.  Along with the five-year Capital Improvement Plan is the request for the continuation of the levy for Residential Building Permit Tax that supports the five-year Capital Improvement Plan as required by Nevada Revised Statute NRS 387.331.  This request is sent to the Department of Taxation for their approval to be heard at the Douglas County Commission in support of this tax.
Included in each Board Member's agenda packet is the aforementioned revised five-year Capital Improvement Plan and request for continuation of the levy for Residential Building Permit Tax that supports the five-year Capital Improvement Plan. The five-year Capital Improvement Plan has been revised principally to accommodate revised cash flow timing, revised cost estimates of certain projects, and addition of projects.
Susan Estes, Director of Business Services, will provide detailed explanations and rationale for proposed changes to the updated five-year Capital Improvement Plan, and answer any questions that the Board may have.

RECOMMENDATION:   It is recommended that the Board approve the Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan and authorize its filing with the Department of Taxation.

Description:  The Health Insurance Advisory Committee will provide the Board with a brief update on the current status of the self-insured plan and its related funding.

Description:  The Board will consider awarding a bid for services to West Coast Paving for the Douglas County School District Pavement Maintenance Project, in the amount of $87,000.00.

RECOMMENDATION: Award the bid for the Douglas County School District Pavement Maintenance Project to West Coast Paving in the amount of $87,000.00 and to authorize the Superintendent to approve recommended change order increases that would increase the scope of pavement maintenance to not exceed the full budgeted amount of $100,000 as recommended by Director of Facilities, Phil Demus and Project Manager, Scott McCullough.

Description:  The Board will consider awarding a bid for services to be decided after bid process closes May 10, 2024, for the DCSD Roof Maintenance Project.  The Board will also consider authorizing the Superintendent to approve change orders up to 10% of the contract amount for unknown conditions typical in this type of project if needed.

RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that the Board award the bid for the DCSD Roofing Maintenance Project to be decided after bidding process closes May 10, 2024, in the amount to be determined after bid acceptance, and authorize the Superintendent to approve change orders up to 10% of the contract amount as recommended by Director of Facilities, Phil Demus and Project Manager, Scott McCullough.  

Description:  The District, through agent Brandon Lewis of USI Insurance Services, has obtained renewal quotes for the District's Property and Casualty (P&C) Insurance coverage.  Included in each Board member's packet is an Executive Summary and Coverage Summary of renewal quotes from the Nevada Public Agency Insurance Pool (NPAIP).  With no change in the current $10,000 property and liability deductibles, there was an approximate increase in the renewal premium of 7.93% through the Nevada Public Agency Insurance Pool (NPAIP). The other significant change, is that the POOL had to reduce the member limit for cyber coverage from $3M to $1M.  The Property and Casualty premium would increase from $869,282 to $938,232.  NPAIP continues to provide a wide range of additional services and resources provided for DCSD, including an Employee Assistance Program, HR Resources Consulting, E-Learning, Email Security Training, school safety operations consulting, and other risk management services. 
 
RECOMMENDATION:  Direct staff to renew the District's Property and Casualty Liability Coverage through the Nevada Public Agency Insurance Pool (NPAIP) for the period of July 1, 2024, through July 1, 2025, as presented.  Funding for the insurance premium is through the General Fund. 

Description:  Presentation of the applications and individual screening tools for the Superintendent position to the Board and the public.  Board Trustees will discuss their individual screening results and will select which candidates will be brought forward for interviews. Trustees will select the date and time Superintendent candidate interviews will be conducted.  Trustees will discuss how they will obtain stakeholder feedback.

Description:  Joey Gilbert, Esq. and Kendra Jepson, Esq., legal council for Douglas County School District and Board of Trustees, will present a draft of the revised legal contract for review, discussion, and possible action by the Board of Trustees.  The Board of Trustees will discuss the legal contract and how it aligns with the District's needs and expectations and possibly take action on the revised legal contract.

Description:  The Board of Trustees will review and discuss the contract of services pertaining to the investigation of a formal complaint filed against the school board by a former employee.  The focus will be on evaluating the terms, conditions, and overall scope of the proposed contract.

Description:  Brief updates from the Board regarding District committees to which they are assigned. 

Description:  Acting Superintendent, Jeannie Dwyer, will report to the Board regarding activities of the past month and upcoming District events that may be of interest to them, current enrollment compared to the same month last school year, and recognize dotations made to various schools and programs in Douglas County School District.

Description:  The Board will recess to closed session in order to discuss matters with its management representatives pursuant to NRS 288.220(4).

Description:  The Board will seek requests from its members for items to be placed on and/or removed from future meeting agendas in accordance with its Bylaws.  The Board will discuss all agenda items on the list and prioritize those it wishes to come forward at the next Board Meeting and/or vote to remove items completely from the list. 

Description:  This item is being revisited based on an OML complaint alleging at the April 9, 2024 Regular Board Meeting regarding Agenda Item 12, Trustees Gilkerson, Kangas, and Wagstaff entered a closed meeting, had a discussion, and a vote followed against the settlement agreement.  The Board of Trustees will discuss and vote on whether to accept, reject, or amend the settlement agreement. 

Description:  Trustees may direct the Superintendent to conduct a full and complete search of the District’s records and servers consistent with DCSD Policy 815 in response to the Petitioners’ Public Records Requests related to the matter of Miller et al. v. DCSD (23-CV-0162) and provide all relevant documents to Petitioners with any confidential information being redacted by the Superintendent’s office.

Description:  Trustees may take action to waive the attorney/client privilege for the invoices of Joey Gilbert Law and all other law firms who have represented the District regarding Miller et al. v. DCSD (23-CV-0162) and to direct the Superintendent to redact items as she deems necessary and make available to the public time statements for matters related to Miller et al. v. DCSD (23-CV-0162).

Description:  Trustees may authorize the Superintendent to retain legal counsel to represent Douglas County School District for matters related to the Writ of Mandamus.

Description:  Trustees may authorize the Superintendent to retain legal counsel to represent Trustees Englekirk, Jansen, Burns, and Dickerson for matters related to the Writ of Mandamus with reservation of rights such that these Trustees will not be indemnified and must reimburse the district for legal fees if they are found to have not acted in good faith.

Description:  Comments from the public are invited at this time on topics not specifically addressed elsewhere in the agenda.  A sign-up sheet is provided and individuals who wish to address the Board are asked to indicate their desire to speak and the topic about which they will speak. Individuals wishing to address the Board at this time will be limited to one and a half minutes. The Board is precluded from acting on items raised during Public Comment that are not already on the agenda.  

Description:  (*) Times are estimated.  Items on the Agenda may be taken out of order.  The Board of Trustees may combine two or more agenda items for consideration, and may remove an item from the agenda or delay discussion relating to an item on the agenda at any time. Generally speaking, the item will be heard no earlier than the time indicated.

If copies of the complete agenda (and supporting materials) are desired in advance, they may be obtained at the District Office on the Friday or Monday preceding a regular Tuesday meeting of the Board.  Please contact the District Office at 775-782-5134 or Suptoffice@dcsd.k12.nv.us.

Notice to Individuals with Disabilities:  Members of the public who require special assistance or accommodations are asked to notify the District Administration at 1638 Mono Avenue, Minden, Nevada, 89423, or by calling 782-5134, so that such notification is received at least twenty four (24) hours prior to the meeting.  In conformance with the Open Meeting Law, it is hereby noted that the agenda for the meeting of the Douglas County School Board of Trustees has been posted at the following locations:

Douglas County School District, Minden, NV
District website:  www.dcsd.k12.nv.us
State of Nevada website:  https://notice.nv.gov