Trustees select new school board president

During a special four-hour meeting Jan. 16, the Churchill County Board of School Trustees elected officers, approved the 2024-25 school calendar and approved recommended personnel action.

The first meeting of the new calendar year opened with Superintendent Derild Parsons presiding over the board election procedures. Following the voting, the board selected a new president, Gregg Malkovich; Vice President Tricia Strasdin; clerk Amber Getto; and acting clerk Joe McFadden.

Under the consent agenda the board approved personnel actions including the renewal of a contract for Churchill County High School girls soccer head coach Macy Myers. 

Prior to the board’s vote, some members of the soccer team and their parents voiced concerns they had regarding Myers’ coaching style. Sharla Hales, legal counsel to the district, warned that personal attacks would not be permitted. Several individuals said they did not want to make their comments into a personal attack, but they asked that the board not renew Myers’ contract.

Myers said she had not previously been given an opportunity to respond to the accusations, and she felt the “rumors” bordered on slander.

The board officially chose to continue with a modified four-day week for the 2024-25 school year. CCSD staff had voted on three calendar options with the modified four-day calendar ranking overall as both the first and second choice. The other two choices were a four-day calendar and a five-day traditional school week.

During the nearly 60-minute discussion, Trustee Julie Guerrero-Goetsch and McFadden argued for putting more student instructional time back into the week with the possibility of reinstating full school days on Fridays. Strasdin stressed the importance of keeping the personal development and collaboration time available for the instructors. Trustee Matt Hyde said it was important to use the data that had already been compiled and voted on by the staff and held firm with his motion to approve the modified four-day week calendar.

The calendar passed 5-2 with Guerrero-Goetsch and McFadden opposed.

A discussion on creating possible bonuses and increasing the daily salary rate to address substitute teacher vacancies was tabled until the next meeting. Trustees requested Parsons compile sample data to show the potential fiscal impact of the incentives.