The Clark County School District (CCSD) is no longer considering a proposed regulation change that would allow the superintendent to pull a book from all school libraries if she considers it to “pose an imminent danger to students.” 

The now-scrapped proposal would have allowed Superintendent Jhone Ebert to bypass the district’s current process for challenging books that gives school-based committees made up of teachers, librarians, administrators and parents the power to make decisions on books being challenged by the public. 

A draft of the proposed language did not include any opportunity to provide input or appeal the superintendent’s decision.

In a statement last week, the grassroots coalition of CCSD librarians Read Freely Nevada called the proposed language an “unprecedented power grab.” 

Nichole Beer, the group’s executive director and founder, said in an interview last week that Ebert “isn’t good for literary freedom.”

A school district in Florida known for having the highest rate of book bans according to PEN America, a free speech advocacy group, adopted a similar policy in June. 

The debate comes as schools nationwide continue to face pressure amid culture wars, including from conservative groups such as Moms for Liberty, to ban books that they argue are inappropriate for students because they deal with sex and diverse gender identities and sexual orientations. 

Last month, Beer leaked an email showing a CCSD high school principal urging other administrators to use a resource on the Moms for Liberty website to screen books in their libraries.  

This year, Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed two bills, AB416 and AB445, that would have added protections against book bans. Lombardo said in his veto messages that they would have weakened the authority of school boards and parents.

District officials said in an unattributed Wednesday statement that they were considering changing the regulation to “provide transparency in the selection of library materials” in response to ongoing discussions at the local, state and national level. 

On Thursday, district officials clarified that the previous draft language was no longer under consideration. They did not answer whether the district was still interested in changing the regulation. 

Yadusha Williams, the chair of the Moms for Liberty Clark County chapter and the group’s state legislative director, said in a Wednesday interview she supported the idea of giving Ebert — who most recently served under Lombardo as the state superintendent — more power over school library books. In a Thursday social media post, the chapter urged the public to write to school board members to show support the proposal. They also advocated for more parental input be added to the district’s book challenge process.  

Beer isn’t the only one concerned about changes that make mass book challenges or bans easier.

National Education Association of Southern Nevada union President Jeremy Heckler, who’s also a CCSD librarian, raised concerns about the district deciding this school year to open up schools’ online library catalog, which previously required a student’s login to access, to the public. He said that would make it easier for national organizations to target the district’s books. 

“We should be talking as a community and not letting all these people who are outside of the community dictate what is right and what’s wrong,” he said in a Tuesday interview. 

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News briefs

⏰ Many see later Clark County school start times as beneficial — More than 60 percent of CCSD parents, students, staff and community members said in a recent survey that later school start times could benefit students’ sleep and improve their mental health. More than half of the 48,000 respondents also said later start times could result in better physical health, academic performance, school attendance and alertness in class, and possibly reduce tardiness. The majority of the participants were parents/guardians (26,137), followed by staff (16,329), students (8,739), community members (1,301) and others (93). 

The idea of delaying the start of the school day has stalled multiple times in Nevada, often over concerns related to cost and disrupting families’ routines, but gained traction elsewhere. The survey was issued after the district announced in September it was exploring shifting school start times, possibly across all grade levels. 

Currently, most CCSD high schools start at 7 a.m., followed by most middle schools at 8 a.m. and most elementary schools at 9 a.m. 

The survey results will be discussed at the district’s school board meeting this Thursday alongside possible start times and transportation cost scenarios. Estimates range from no cost if the district pushes back start times for all grade levels by 30 minutes, to more than $13 million in one-time costs and more than $4 million in annual costs if the district inverts the order of its current bell schedule — having younger children start earlier than high schoolers — and pushes back start times by 15-30 minutes. 

🍎 Governor’s order lays groundwork for new Education Service Center — Gov. Joe Lombardo recently issued an executive order to start standing up a new Education Service Center tasked with helping schools meet more stringent accountability goals.

The idea for the center came from Lombardo’s 2025 education omnibus bill, but it was later added to Democratic Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro’s (D-Las Vegas) SB460 as part of a compromise.

Lombardo said in the Oct. 17 executive order that it’s in the best interest of the state that the center immediately begin its work of providing essential services to school districts and charter schools sponsors in anticipation of new accountability measures. 

The order directs State Superintendent of Public Instruction Victor Wakefield to begin issuing emergency regulations “as soon as practicable” to begin the implementation of the center. 

The order states Lombardo will identify and appoint an interim executive director for the center, who will begin service on Oct. 27. Lombardo’s spokeswoman and the Nevada Department of Education did not respond to The Nevada Independent’s inquiry on the status of this appointment and the emergency regulations, or share more details about the roles and responsibilities of the center. 

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Reading assignments

Nevada schools are digging out from COVID absenteeism crisis. Here’s what’s working.

Chronic absenteeism in Nevada public schools continued to decrease during the 2024-2025 academic year, but the statewide rate is still higher than its prepandemic level. 

Extra credit

Summit Daily: Colorado voters overwhelmingly approve new tax revenue to bolster funding for free school meals program

In 2023, Lombardo vetoed a bill that would have allocated state funding for universal school meals. 

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Featured social media post 

Looking forward to meeting, and working with, Communities in Schools of Nevada’s new executive director for its Southern Nevada affiliate.