EDITORIAL: Not trusted?

The latest installment of the soap opera that is the Clark County School Board hit the airwaves Monday night. Viewers with the stomach to tune in saw a lone vote temporarily derail one of the serial’s more foolish and hastily crafted story lines.

The trustees — or at least some of them — obviously view with distrust a series of legislative reforms intended to lift the district’s woeful test scores. But the school board has dawdled through the years despite persistently embarrassing student achievement levels. At least state lawmakers opted for action.

Among the measures to emerge from Carson City during the 2015 session was a bill to decentralize the district by giving principals, teachers and parents more input into decisions at each campus. Another bill allows the state to convert a handful of underperforming schools into charters as part of a new Achievement School District.

Some board members have been slow to embrace either reform, seeing them as infringements on their hegemony. For instance, trustees recently refused to cooperate with state education officials in identifying candidates for the new achievement district. And consultants involved in the reorganization initiative have accused trustees of impeding the process.

On Monday, the board debated a rushed agenda item to add a “mentor” to help with the reorganization plan. It’s a transparent move intended to dilute the authority of Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky, who has been willing to embrace reform. Proponents of the item, including board president Linda Young, scheduled the debate for a time when the superintendent and two trustees were out of town.

The power play thrust the divisions to the surface.

“If you look at the community, we’re no longer trusted leaders,” said trustee Carolyn Edwards. “Right now, I don’t trust half my own board.”

Ms. Young countered that the issue demanded immediate attention because the reorganization is set to kick in next fall. But where was this urgency when the board opted to sit on the sidelines during the 2015 Legislature? Or when the trustees told Mr. Skorkowsky not to participate in public meetings designed to seek parental feedback on the issue?

In the end, the board voted 4-3 to table the matter until January, when the newly elected Lola Brooks takes over for Patrice Tew. To her credit, the outgoing Ms. Tew cast the deciding vote. Let’s hope the delay affords trustees time to ponder the consequences of intransigence and obstruction for the thousands of district students who struggle to read or complete basic math computations.

It’s long past time for the trustees to reject the drama and territorialism in favor of a measured approach designed to ensure the board follows the law and becomes part of the solution. Anything less and the trustees risk cancellation of their amateurish reality show.