CCSD Superintendent Jesus Jara To Resign, May Receive Massive Payout
Going to school is all about learning lessons. Do your homework, or you’ll flunk. Treat people the way you want to be treated. Bad behavior will get you in trouble. Well, kids within CCSD could potentially learn a lesson from Superintendent Jesus Jara: make sure you have a sweetheart contract so when you resign you get paid handsomely.
The widely reviled head of the Clark County School District gave the school board his resignation letter earlier this week. By the end of his run, he will have served roughly six years. Those years were tumultuous, riddled with controversy and mismanagement. That isn’t to mention the district’s students haven’t faired any better during his tenure.
Why CCSD Superintendent Jara May Receive A Fat Check To Resign
You typically hear about it in Corporate America. A CEO oversees a terrible era in the company’s history, sometimes to its peril. They walk away from the wreckage with a massive check and everyone behind them are left to clean up the pieces.
Enter Jesus Jara. He’s got a lot of issues following him right now and the school board will have a meeting next week to amend his contract to let him out early. But not just that. According to the RJ, the amendment would include a lump sum payment of a year’s salary (nearly $400,000) and benefits. That’s right kids. If you fail, fail upwards and outwards.
The Clark County Education Association said in a press conference Thursday that the board should not buy his contract out, but instead fire him with cause. The teachers union has active litigation against Jara for an incendiary tweet that accused CCEA President Marie Neisess of being a “mistress” to another member of the union under his official CCSD account. A message likely meant for a “burner” account that he would
Why Was Jara So Bad For CCSD?
Superintendent Jara didn’t make many friends within the ranks of his district. From parents to teachers and students alike, operations of the district have been questioned during his tenure.
Some have taken Jara and the district to task for their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and children learning from home. To be fair, Jara was certainly not alone on the national stage on how COVID was handled.
The obvious and ugly negotiations to get teachers a new contract dragged on for months. The contract, while an improvement, leaves long tenured teachers making less than some new hires. The district under Jara could have volunteered to fix that. They didn’t. Theatrics in the media and the obvious tweet heard around the county left a sour taste in the mouths of the thousands of educators and potentially kept other prospective educators away from the district.
Of course we tried to get people to come to the valley to teach. Heck we sent over a dozen people for an extended vacation teacher recruiting event in Miami on 4th Of July weekend. It garnered no hired.
There was the video of the takedown of a student who was simply filming CCSDPD arrest a fellow student. The district refused to release the video. The ACLU sued. An unnecessary 11 month legal drama unfolded only for the inevitable to happen and being compelled to release the video.
Speaking of unnecessary legal drama, the case of the grad whose yearbook featured an unfortunate and pronounced faux bulge that caused him to receive ridicule. He wanted $6000 for the embarrassment. The court agreed. Instead of CCSD paying, they appealed and lost, likely spending more than the initial judgement to do so.
We could go on. Needless to say, based on classroom results alone, he wasn’t it.
Who Will Replace Jara At CCSD?
On Wednesday, February 7th, the CCSD school board will meet in the chambers of the Henderson City Council to consider his resignation and how to do it. Will there be a payout? Perhaps not?
In his place? Rumors have it that Deputy Superintendent Brenda Larsen-Mitchell will be appointed the Superintendent. Not interim. No job posting. She would slide into the position. Knowing how well the current upper-administration is doing with educators, it is likely to be an uphill climb to righting a ship that is arguably too large to right.
