Nineteen people are vying for four Washoe County school board seats. Reno Public Radio’s Anh Gray reports voters will get a chance to learn more about most of them before the primary at two public forums.
The Reno-Gazette Journal and University of Nevada, Reno are hosting both forums. RGJ education reporter Trevon Milliard will be moderating.
Milliard says discussions will include “everything from superintendent hiring, which is the school board’s chief responsibility, and oversight of the budget, things that have been becoming a big issue lately like the school choice program, so issues that are big locally and statewide that the school board is involved in.”
One of the biggest issues for the district is overcrowding. Voters will be deciding in November whether to increase the sales tax for school infrastructure projects.
“If that passes, the school board that gets voted in in November will be the ones deciding how that money is spent," Milliard says, "and they’re expecting to be able to bond for close to $781 million in the first ten years.”
The large pool of candidates includes people from a wide range of professional backgrounds with only one incumbent.
Each of the two forums will feature candidates from two of the four district seats that are up for grabs.
The forums are Wednesday, June 8th (Districts A and D) and Thursday, June 9th (Districts E and G) on the UNR campus in Room 100 of the Jot Travis Building. To learn more, click here.
