The Washoe County School District held their State of Education meeting earlier this evening at Marce Herz Middle School. Superintendent Dr. Susan Enfield, broke down what their main focuses will be and how they plan to achieve them.
Dr. Enfield stated, "I think this was an opportunity for us to be very honest with our community about the challenges that we're facing but also share that we're taking steps to address them."
She shared that she would be focusing on five different challenges the district is currently facing. Those challenges being: staff shortages, declining enrollment, inadequate state funding, school safety, and student achievement.
"We will be playing catch-up for a while. We are behind in compensation, we are behind in per pupil funding, and we need to catch up. So, while this investment is the beginning, and it's a great beginning, it's a beginning," says Enfield.
Her solutions regarding staff shortages include addressing staff shortage through recruitment, improving pay structure and benefits, offering long-term employment, and realigning resources.
Solutions for declining enrollment and inadequate state funding involve the Governor's proposed education budget, which consists of a $1 billion annual increase statewide to K-12 funding, New Pupil Centered Funding plan begins to work the way it should, addressing wage gap and working to reduce class sizes, and the Special Education budget, which still needs improvement.
Washoe County School Board President Beth Smith says, "I am excited at the potential of more funding from the state because with additional funding we can start talking and have serious conversations around class sizes, staff compensation, more safety, and also other educational programs."
As far as safety concerns, improvements will be made such as filling vacant school police positions, onboarding security measures, and improving mental health supports. Focusing on student achievement they will be eliminating unnecessary district assessments to allow teachers more time to teach the more important information.
President Smith stated, "The future of our school district is so bright. We have a phenomenal team here, we've got great kids, we have a great community, and we're really a district on the rise."
