Carson City school board appoints two Family Life committee members

The Carson City School District Board of Trustees appointed two new members to its Family Life Advisory Committee to serve three-year terms beginning this month through October 2023.

The committee that steers the district’s Family Life program, which oversees its sex education curriculum and reviews student health standards concerning the human reproductive system and sexual responsibility, meets monthly or quarterly through the school year depending on need.

Sheila Story, Family Life chair, presented the applications for Valerie Melendez and Kyndra Williams at the Oct. 13 board meeting.

Melendez, not present at Tuesday’s meeting, expressed her interest in the position as a mother of an Eagle Valley Middle School eighth grader, a member of the Native American Paiute and an employee of the State of Nevada Health Division’s Family Planning and Communicable Disease Program for approximately five years. She also worked with the Northern Nevada Development Authority in various capacities as an economic development coordinator, its tribal economic development liaison and its Sierra Region Economic Council coordinator between 2014 and 2019. She also has served as Empire Elementary School’s Parent Teacher Association president and as sergeant at arms for the Carson City Rotary Club, among other leadership roles in the community.

Williams, who attended the school district herself and graduated from Carson High School, has a degree in criminal justice from Western Nevada College and worked as a program officer in the Nevada Department of Corrections. She has served as a case investigator, emphasizing her experience handling a caseload of people who have been convicted of sex crimes against children and touting her experience of recent laws and bills passed in the 2019 legislative session to register their tier level. She also is a mother of two, with one attending Mark Twain Elementary School.

Williams told the board Tuesday she wanted to bring her skills and knowledge to the committee.

“I’ve seen a lot of juveniles (juvenile files) come across my desk,” Williams said. “I’ve seen an uptick. I have a pretty good idea on teaching consent.”

Trustee Lupe Ramirez thanked both candidates for applying.

“I’m very impressed that you wanted to make a difference,” she said. “I appreciate your willingness.”