On June 18th, Kristen McNeill was named acting Washoe County School District Superintendent after former Superintendent Traci Davis took a leave of absence. McNeill was named Interim Superintendent when Davis was fired on July 1st.

McNeill called the week since July 1 "a whirlwind," because it's been so emotional and busy.

McNeill says she wants to be a stabilizing force on the district as interim superintendent. While she oversees some of the district's top priorities like staffing schools and checking in on construction projects, she's also working to improve employee moral.

"Obviously, you know we have some challenges, we have some challenges with employee morale," McNeill says. "And so we are tackling that head on. I had a fabulous meeting with our association leadership last week. We have another one sheduled in two weeks."

On June 21st, McNeill sent a letter to employees alerting them of the special meeting planned for July 1st, where Davis was ultimately fired.

In that letter, McNeill said employees are obligated to keep confidential district business confidential, and several teachers complained to their union about the letter.

Three days later, McNeill issued another letter stating she did not mean to be so harsh. She says she was trying to send a serious notice about confidential information, since Davis's removal involved just that.

"Even as an interim superintendent I need to check to make sure my emails, my letters, my communication," McNeill says. "It's all about the tone but even more important than tone, it's what did you mean by that."

She hopes continued meetings with employees and transparency will improve morale and trust.

"And it really is just that day to day," McNeill says. "this is what I did, here's my calendar, it's public. Let's just get down to the work."

McNeill says she hasn't decided if she will apply to be the full-time superintendent, and doesn't know when she will make that decision.

The Board of Trustees could vote to start their search for the new superintendent at their meeting July 23rd.