Jan. 15th, 2026 Board Meeting Recap

OVERVIEW OF ITEMS AND ACTIONS FROM THE JAN. 15, 2026 DOUGLAS COUNTY SPECIAL SCHOOL BOARD MEETING AT THE DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL MEDIA CENTER Six trustees present; vacancy created by resignation of Trustee Katherine Dickerson to be filled. Trustee David Burns left early, citing a medical condition. Heather Jackson was sworn in as District 6 trustee, replacing Katherine Dickerson who resigned Nov. 30, 2025. The board approved a flexible agenda, allowing items to be heard out of order. Douglas High School Senior Jocelyn Crow was welcomed as the board student representative. A recording of the meeting is available on YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=golOPK1F_o8&list=PLFbQcTbq4JwfTF3W6LIRu7HUhB9IG3P2D&ind ex=1 Item 9: Public Comment Retired Douglas High School Principal Marty Swisher read an email from Trustee David Burns in response to Mr. Swisher’s endorsement of appointed trustee Heather Jackson. Mr. Burns accused Mr. Swisher of not caring about the students, adding “I have never seen such stupid, hateful people in my life.” He went on to castigate Mr. Swisher as a “terrible” principal, and calling out “the Red Shirt liberals who hate so much you would destroy your own schools.” He also accused Mr. Swisher and several other former administrators of setting up the district schools to fail financially. Mr. Swisher responded that Trustee Burns’ “name calling and denigrating remarks” were completely irresponsible. He presented the background which led to the 2024 Writ of Mandamus decision affirming that the school board violated Nevada’s Open Meeting Law. He called upon Trustee Burns to resign. Several other speakers corrected Trustee Burns’ statement that his (Burns) political opponents were responsible for the financial situation facing the district, when, in fact, Burns, and three other trustees were held liable for in legal fees incurred over an 18-month-period when the board was represented by attorney Joey Gilbert who has since resigned. Mr. Gilbert was paid more than $500,000. At the end of public comment, Trustee Markus Zinke requested a future agenda item to censure Trustee Burns for violating board bylaws as regards professional conduct and avoiding personal attacks. Item 2: Public Apology Board President Yvonne Wagstaff read the following apology of the board for the Open Meeting Law Violations. The apology was adopted 6-0. “As your school board we would like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize to our community for the past actions and Open Meeting Law violations that have occurred from this Board. We recognize the serious concerns these actions have caused, and we deeply regret the loss of public trust. Please know we accept accountability and we are fully committed to rebuilding that trust by learning from our mistakes and moving forward with integrity. As a Board, we are dedicated to diligent training, hard work, and complete transparency as we put the past behind us and refocus on serving our students and community with the professionalism, respect, and accountability you deserve.” Item 13: Fiscal Emergency The board formally declared a state of Financial Emergency as defined by Nevada law, based on a determination that the district meets statutory conditions such as a general fund ending balance of less than 4 percent of actual expenditures and deficit spending. Supt. Frankie Alvarado explained that the declaration allows the district to maintain local control and that the state has faith the district will make corrections by June 2027. Item 14: School Consolidation Supt. Alvarado advised the board that the Lake schools consolidation was no longer under consideration as the cost savings were minimal. He asked trustees for other scenarios to be prepared in advance of a Jan. 27 special board meeting, a Jan. 28 community town hall, and a Feb. 3 special board meeting when decisions would be announced. Trustees discussed moving sixth grade back to elementary schools, creating kindergarten through eighth grade school, or bringing seventh and eighth graders to the high school. Parents, teachers and administrators offered public comment, most advocating for their own school. Trustee Erinn Miller, who represents the Lake schools which have already undergone consolidation, said staff at the schools “did a great job” mitigating concerns about older students attending with younger students, establishing lunch hours, sports programs and extracurriculars to meet the needs of all students. Trustee Burns left the meeting at 5:45 p.m. citing health reasons. Item 3: Interview of Candidates and Selection for District No. 6 Board Vacancy Trustees interviewed Ted Martell, Heather Jackson, Robert Houchin, Trish Smith Robinson and James Martin. Each candidate was asked the same three questions and appeared out of the presence of the others. At the end of the interview, trustees ranked their top choice with Ms. Jackson receiving four of five votes and Mr. Houchin receiving one. The board voted 5-0 for Ms. Jackson. Trustee Burns was absent. More than a dozen speakers lined up during public comment to support Ms. Jackson who was appointed to the board in 2021, and unseated in 2022 by Katherine Dickerson who resigned last year. Ms. Jackson told trustees she was born and raised in Douglas County, graduated from the school district as did her four sons. She is the daughter of teachers and has been a teacher, tutor, classroom volunteer, PTO president, and substitute teacher as well as volunteer activities outside the classroom. “There are so many wonderful things about our schools, teachers, staff and administrators. I love our students. As a board member, I am part of a team, to help make good decisions and support our superintendent, teachers, staff and students. It’s a shared responsibility. We’re here for good governance. We’re here to be examples and keep our schools where they need to be.” Ms. Jackson took her seat on the board immediately after her selection. Item 6: Election of Officers for 2026 The board voted 5-0 to retain Yvonne Wagstaff as president and Melinda Gneiting as vice president. Item 12: Consent items The board approved eight classified personnel reductions in force, brought about by the fiscal crisis. Affected employees include the director of transportation, and coordinator of transportation, family engagement specialist and communications, director of facilities, maintenance technician II, two secretaries and a groundsperson. Their contracts end Feb. 28 and June 30. School bus driver Maria Arceo spoke on behalf of Blair Hinsz and Ashley Touchin in the transportation department. “I am deeply worried,” she said. “They make sure the students get to school safely and on time. I am concerned you are gambling with safety.” Item 18: Superintendent Report Supt. Alvarado said he met with the Nevada governor’s chief of staff and the state Department of Education, and “we cannot expect any financial relief from additional funding from the state. We need to move forward with the consolidations.” The consolidation decision will be announced Feb. 3 following a special meeting Jan. 27 and community town hall on Jan. 28. He also told the board that state-mandated open enrollment begins Feb. 9. Supt. Alvarado said the phased reduction plan is being achieved through attrition and reduction in force. “We have 26 positions on hold and you added 8 today,” he said. That leaves 26 more positions to achieve the goal of reduction in force of 60 positions. Meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.