A.B. 316
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ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 316–ASSEMBLYMEMBER NGUYEN
FEBRUARY 27, 2025
____________
JOINT SPONSOR: SENATOR TAYLOR
____________
Referred to Committee on Education
SUMMARY—Revises provisions relating to the governance of
school districts. (BDR 34-319)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: May have Fiscal Impact.
Effect on the State: No.
~
EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to school districts; requiring the board of county
commissioners to appoint a nonvoting pupil trustee to the
board of trustees of each county school district in this
State; revising provisions governing the election and
appointment of the board of trustees of each county
school district; and providing other matters properly
relating thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
Existing law provides that the board of trustees of a county school district 1
consists of 5, 7 or 11 members depending on the number of pupils who are enrolled 2
in the county school district. (NRS 386.120) Section 1 of this bill requires the 3
board of county commissioners to appoint a nonvoting pupil trustee to the board of 4
trustees of each county school district in this State, who must be nominated from 5
the pupils in the county school district. Section 1 outlines the qualifications and 6
procedures for nominating the pupil trustee and the rights and responsibilities of the 7
pupil trustee. Finally, section 1 provides that the pupil trustee has: (1) the same 8
rights as voting members of the board of trustees; (2) the right to receive equivalent 9
training for professional development; and (3) the right to express an opinion 10
before any vote taken by the board of trustees. 11
Sections 2-9 of this bill revise references to the number of trustees on the board 12
of trustees and the election of members of the board of trustees to account for the 13
appointment of the nonvoting pupil trustee. 14
Section 10 of this bill provides that a person appointed to fill a vacancy in the 15
position of pupil trustee must have the qualifications set forth in section 1. 16
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Section 11 of this bill provides that the training for professional development 17
that the pupil trustee has the right to receive is an exception to the requirements for 18
the training required to be provided to the other trustees. 19
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Chapter 386 of NRS is hereby amended by adding 1
thereto a new section to read as follows: 2
1. The board of county commissioners of each county in this 3
State shall appoint to the board of trustees of the county school 4
district one nonvoting pupil trustee nominated from the pupils in 5
the county school district in accordance with the requirements of 6
subsection 3. 7
2. The pupil trustee appointed pursuant to subsection 1 must: 8
(a) Reside in the county; 9
(b) Be enrolled in grade 11 or 12 as a full-time pupil of a 10
public high school in the county; and 11
(c) Be nominated in accordance with the requirements of 12
subsection 3. 13
3. To be nominated for appointment to the board of trustees: 14
(a) In a county school district where less than 50,000 pupils 15
are enrolled for the current school year, the pupil trustee must be 16
nominated by a majority vote of the pupils enrolled in the public 17
middle schools, junior high schools and high schools in the county 18
school district in a vote conducted in accordance with the policies 19
and regulations of the board of trustees of the county school 20
district. 21
(b) In a county school district where 50,000 or more pupils are 22
enrolled for the current school year: 23
(1) The pupils enrolled in the public middle schools, junior 24
high schools and high schools in each election district within the 25
county school district shall, by majority vote, nominate two pupils 26
to represent the schools at a convention; 27
(2) The pupils nominated pursuant to subparagraph (1) 28
shall, by majority vote, nominate two candidates from amongst 29
themselves to be presented to the pupils enrolled in the public 30
middle schools, junior high schools and high schools in the county 31
school district; and 32
(3) The pupils enrolled in the middle schools, junior high 33
schools and high schools in the county school district shall, by 34
majority vote, nominate from amongst those pupils presented 35
pursuant to subparagraph (2) the pupil to serve as pupil trustee on 36
the board of trustees. 37
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4. The term of a pupil trustee appointed to the board of 1
trustees pursuant to subsection 1 is 1 year. 2
5. The pupil trustee appointed pursuant to subsection 1 shall 3
have: 4
(a) The same rights as voting members of the board of trustees, 5
including, without limitation, attending all meetings, being 6
involved in any briefings, evaluations, closed-door sessions and 7
policy and operational discussions and receiving all meeting 8
materials provided to the voting trustees; 9
(b) The right to receive training for professional development 10
that is equivalent to the training provided to the other trustees 11
pursuant to NRS 386.327; and 12
(c) The right to express an opinion before any vote taken by 13
the board of trustees. 14
6. The pupil trustee appointed pursuant to subsection 1 15
represents all pupils within the county school district and shall: 16
(a) Serve as a liaison between the pupils in the county school 17
district and the voting members of the board of trustees; 18
(b) Keep pupils within the county school district informed of 19
the business of the board of trustees; 20
(c) Introduce and speak on matters that impact pupils within 21
the county school district, as appropriate; and 22
(d) Attend not less than 75 percent of the meetings of the board 23
of trustees. 24
Sec. 2. NRS 386.120 is hereby amended to read as follows: 25
386.120 1. The board of trustees of a county school district 26
consists of [5, 7] 6, 8 or [11] 12 members as follows: 27
(a) If more than 75,000 pupils were enrolled during the school 28
year next preceding any general election, the board of trustees 29
consists of [11] 12 members. The members of the board must be 30
elected and appointed as provided in NRS 386.165. 31
(b) If 1,000 or more but not more than 75,000 pupils were 32
enrolled during the school year next preceding any general election, 33
the board of trustees consists of [seven] eight members. Except in 34
school districts in which more than 25,000 pupils are enrolled, the 35
voting members of the board must be elected at large until such time 36
as an alternate manner of election is adopted pursuant to NRS 37
386.200 or NRS 386.205, 386.215 and 386.225. 38
(c) If fewer than 1,000 pupils were enrolled during the school 39
year next preceding any general election, the board of trustees 40
consists of [five] six members. The voting members of the board 41
must be elected as provided in NRS 386.160 until such time as an 42
alternate manner of election is adopted pursuant to NRS 386.200 or 43
NRS 386.205, 386.215 and 386.225. 44
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(d) If 1,000 or more, but fewer than 1,500 pupils were enrolled 1
during the school year next preceding any general election, the 2
board of trustees consists of [seven] eight members unless the 3
board, on or before December 1 in any year before a general 4
election will be held, adopts a resolution specifying that the board 5
will consist of [five] six members. If the board consists of [seven] 6
eight members, the election of voting members is governed by 7
paragraph (b). If the board consists of [five] six members, the 8
election of voting members is governed by paragraph (c). 9
2. Before the adoption of a resolution pursuant to paragraph (d) 10
of subsection 1, the board of trustees shall post conspicuously, in 11
three different places in the school district, a notice containing in 12
full the text of the resolution with the date upon which the board of 13
trustees of the school district is to meet to act upon the resolution. 14
Posting of the notice must be made not less than 10 days before the 15
date fixed in the resolution for action thereon. 16
3. If a board of trustees adopts a resolution pursuant to 17
paragraph (d) of subsection 1, it must transmit a copy of the 18
resolution to the Superintendent of Public Instruction on or before 19
December 15 of the year before the general election will be held. 20
Sec. 3. NRS 386.160 is hereby amended to read as follows: 21
386.160 1. At the general election in 1980 and every 4 years 22
thereafter, in a county school district where fewer than 1,000 pupils 23
were enrolled during the preceding school year, three trustees shall 24
be elected at large within the district, as follows: 25
(a) One person who resides at the county seat; but if less than 40 26
percent of the residents of the county reside at the county seat then 27
such person need not reside at the county seat. 28
(b) One person who resides in the county but not at the county 29
seat. 30
(c) One person who resides in the county but not at the county 31
seat; but if 80 percent or more of the residents of the county reside 32
at the county seat then a person who resides at the county seat may 33
be elected to the office. 34
2. At the general election in 1982 and every 4 years thereafter, 35
in a county school district where fewer than 1,000 pupils were 36
enrolled during the preceding school year, two trustees shall be 37
elected at large within the district, as follows: 38
(a) One person who resides at the county seat; but if less than 20 39
percent of the residents of the county reside at the county seat then 40
such person need not reside at the county seat. 41
(b) One person who resides in the county but who resides 42
neither at the county seat nor in any incorporated city within the 43
county. 44
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3. One nonvoting pupil trustee must be appointed by the 1
board of county commissioners pursuant to section 1 of this act. 2
The term of each person elected to the office of school trustee is 4 3
years. 4
Sec. 4. NRS 386.165 is hereby amended to read as follows: 5
386.165 1. In each county school district in which more than 6
75,000 pupils are enrolled, the board of trustees shall establish seven 7
election districts for school trustees. The districts must be: 8
(a) As nearly equal in population as practicable; and 9
(b) Composed of contiguous territory. 10
2. The board of trustees in each county school district in which 11
more than 75,000 pupils are enrolled is composed of [11] 12 12
members, of whom: 13
(a) Seven voting members must be elected in election districts 14
established pursuant to subsection 1 by the board of trustees. 15
(b) One nonvoting member must be appointed by the board of 16
county commissioners of the county in which the school district is 17
located. The member appointed pursuant to this paragraph must 18
reside in the county in which the school district is located. 19
(c) Three nonvoting members must be appointed by the 20
governing bodies of the three most populous incorporated cities in 21
the county in which the school district is located, with each 22
governing body appointing one member. Each member appointed 23
pursuant to this paragraph must reside in the city in which the 24
governing body is required to make the appointment. 25
(d) One nonvoting pupil trustee must be appointed by the 26
board of county commissioners pursuant to section 1 of this act. 27
3. In each county school district in which more than 25,000 28
pupils but not more than 75,000 pupils are enrolled, the board of 29
trustees shall establish seven election districts for school trustees, as 30
follows: 31
(a) Five districts which are as nearly equal in population as 32
practicable, each of which includes approximately one-fifth of the 33
population of the county; and 34
(b) Two districts which are as nearly equal in population as 35
practicable, each of which includes approximately one-half of the 36
population of the county. 37
The districts must be composed of contiguous territory. 38
4. Each elected trustee of a school district to which this section 39
applies must reside in the election district which the trustee 40
represents and be elected by the voters of that election district. 41
5. In each school district in which more than 25,000 pupils but 42
not more than 75,000 pupils are enrolled, the board of trustees is 43
composed of [seven] eight members [who] , of whom: 44
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(a) Seven members must be elected in an election district 1
established pursuant to subsection 3 by the board of trustees [.] ; 2
and 3
(b) One nonvoting member must be appointed by the board of 4
county commissioners pursuant to section 1 of this act. 5
6. The appointing authority shall make an appointment 6
pursuant to subsection 2 at least 30 days but not more than 90 days 7
before the expiration of the term of office of the incumbent member. 8
7. [The] Except as otherwise provided in section 1 of this act, 9
the term of office of a school trustee is 4 years, commencing on the 10
first Monday of January thereafter next following the election of the 11
trustee. 12
8. Each trustee shall hold office until his or her successor is 13
appointed or elected and qualified. 14
9. The nonvoting members of the board of trustees appointed 15
pursuant to subsection 2: 16
(a) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b), shall have the 17
same rights and responsibilities as voting members of the board of 18
trustees, including, without limitation, being involved in any 19
briefings, interviews, evaluations, closed-door sessions and policy 20
and operational discussions; and 21
(b) Do not have voting rights for the election of officers or the 22
authority to serve as an officer of the board of trustees. 23
Sec. 5. NRS 386.180 is hereby amended to read as follows: 24
386.180 1. If the certificate of the Superintendent of Public 25
Instruction filed with the county clerk states that the pupil 26
enrollment during the preceding school year in a county school 27
district other than Clark or Washoe was less than 1,000, or was 28
1,000 or more but less than 1,500 in a district in which the board of 29
trustees has adopted a resolution in accordance with NRS 386.120 30
specifying that the board will consist of [five] six members, and the 31
board of trustees of the district is composed of [seven] eight 32
members , seven of whom were elected at large based upon a 33
previous pupil enrollment of 1,000 or more, then two of the elected 34
offices of trustee may not be filled at the next succeeding general 35
election. 36
2. Thereafter, while continued pupil enrollment in the county 37
school district is less than 1,000, or is 1,000 or more but less than 38
1,500 in a district in which the board of trustees has adopted a 39
resolution in accordance with NRS 386.120 specifying that the 40
board will consist of [five] six members, the offices of school 41
trustees must be filled as provided by law for school districts having 42
pupil enrollments of less than 1,000. 43
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Sec. 6. NRS 386.190 is hereby amended to read as follows: 1
386.190 1. If the certificate of the Superintendent of Public 2
Instruction filed with the county clerk states that the pupil 3
enrollment during the preceding school year in a county school 4
district was 1,000 or more, and the board of trustees of the district is 5
composed of [five] six members elected and appointed as provided 6
in NRS 386.160, then at the next succeeding general election one 7
additional trustee who resides at the county seat must be elected for 8
a term of 4 years, and one additional trustee who resides in the 9
county but not at the county seat must be elected for a term of 2 10
years. 11
2. Thereafter, while continued pupil enrollment in the county 12
school district is 1,000 or more, the offices of school trustees must 13
be filled as provided by law for school districts having pupil 14
enrollments of that size. 15
3. The provisions of subsections 1 and 2 do not apply in a 16
school district in which the pupil enrollment during the preceding 17
school year was 1,000 or more but less than 1,500, and in which the 18
board of trustees of the school district has adopted a resolution 19
specifying that the board will consist of [five] six members. 20
Sec. 7. NRS 386.200 is hereby amended to read as follows: 21
386.200 1. In addition to the manner of election provided in 22
NRS 386.205, 386.215 and 386.225, the trustees of a county school 23
district may be elected from school trustee election areas in the 24
alternate manner provided in this section. 25
2. Within 30 days before May 1 of any year in which a general 26
election is to be held in the State, 10 percent or more of the 27
registered voters of a county school district in which 25,000 or 28
fewer pupils are enrolled may file a written petition with the board 29
of county commissioners of the county praying for the creation of 30
school trustee election areas within the county school district in the 31
manner provided in this section. The petition must specify with 32
particularity the school trustee election areas proposed to be created, 33
the number of trustees to be elected from each area, and the manner 34
of their nomination and election. The number of school trustee 35
election areas proposed must not exceed the number of elected 36
trustees authorized by law for the particular county school district. 37
The description of the proposed school trustee election areas need 38
not be given by metes and bounds or by legal subdivisions, but must 39
be sufficient to enable a person to ascertain what territory is 40
proposed to be included within a particular school trustee election 41
area. The signatures to the petition need not all be appended to one 42
paper, but each signer must add to his or her name his or her place 43
of residence, giving the street and number whenever practicable. 44
One of the signers of each paper shall swear or affirm, before a 45
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person competent to administer oaths, that each signature to the 1
paper appended is the genuine signature of the person whose name it 2
purports to be. 3
3. Immediately after the receipt of the petition, the board of 4
county commissioners shall fix a date for a public hearing to be held 5
during the month of May, and shall give notice thereof by 6
publication at least once in a newspaper published in the county, or 7
if no such newspaper is published therein then in a newspaper 8
published in the State of Nevada and having a general circulation in 9
the county. The costs of publication of the notice is a proper charge 10
against the county school district fund. 11
4. If, as a result of the public hearing, the board of county 12
commissioners finds that the creation of school trustee election areas 13
within the county school district is desirable, the board of county 14
commissioners shall, by resolution regularly adopted before June 1, 15
divide the county school district into the number of school trustee 16
election areas specified in the petition, designate them by number 17
and define their boundaries. The territory comprising each school 18
trustee election area must be contiguous. The resolution must further 19
set forth the number of trustees to be elected from each school 20
trustee election area and the manner of their nomination and 21
election. 22
5. Before June 1 and immediately following the adoption of the 23
resolution creating school trustee election areas within a county 24
school district, the clerk of the board of county commissioners shall 25
transmit a certified copy of the resolution to the Superintendent of 26
Public Instruction. 27
6. Upon the creation of school trustee election areas within a 28
county school district the terms of office of all elected trustees then 29
in office expire on the 1st Monday of January thereafter next 30
following a general election. At the general election held following 31
the creation of school trustee election areas within a county school 32
district, school trustees to represent the odd-numbered school trustee 33
election areas must be elected for terms of 4 years and school 34
trustees to represent the even-numbered school trustee election areas 35
must be elected for terms of 2 years. Thereafter, at each general 36
election, the offices of elected school trustees must be filled for 37
terms of 4 years in the order in which the terms of office expire. 38
7. A candidate for the office of trustee of a county school 39
district in which school trustee election areas have been created 40
must be a qualified elector and a resident of the school trustee 41
election area which he or she seeks to represent. 42
8. The board of county commissioners may by resolution 43
change the boundaries of school trustee election areas or the manner 44
of nomination or election of school trustees after: 45
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(a) Holding a public hearing of which notice must be given as 1
provided in subsection 3; and 2
(b) Receiving, at the hearing or by resolution, the consent of the 3
board of trustees of the school district. 4
9. If the Superintendent of Public Instruction certifies to the 5
county clerk that the enrollment of pupils during the preceding 6
school year in a county school district was less than 1,000, or was 7
1,000 or more but less than 1,500 in a district in which the board of 8
trustees has adopted a resolution in accordance with NRS 386.120 9
specifying that the board will consist of [five] six members, and the 10
board of trustees of the county school district is composed of eight 11
members, seven of whom were elected [members] based upon a 12
previous enrollment of 1,000 or more, the board of county 13
commissioners shall alter the school trustee election areas or change 14
the number of trustees to be elected from the areas, or the manner of 15
their nomination and election, as may be necessary to provide for 16
reduction of the membership of the board of trustees of the county 17
school board from [seven] eight to [five] six members, and only five 18
school trustees may thereafter be nominated and elected at the 19
forthcoming elections. 20
10. If the Superintendent of Public Instruction certifies to the 21
county clerk that the enrollment of pupils during the preceding 22
school year in a county school district was 1,000 or more, and the 23
board of trustees of the county school district is composed of six 24
members, five of whom were elected , [members,] the board of 25
county commissioners shall alter the school trustee election areas or 26
change the number of trustees to be elected from the areas, or the 27
manner of their nomination and election, as may be necessary to 28
provide for increasing the membership of the board of trustees of the 29
county school district from [five] six to [seven] eight members, and 30
two additional school trustees must thereafter be nominated and 31
elected at the forthcoming elections. 32
11. The provisions of subsection 10 do not apply in a school 33
district in which the pupil enrollment during the preceding school 34
year was 1,000 or more but less than 1,500, and in which the board 35
of trustees of the school district has adopted a resolution specifying 36
that the board will consist of [five] six members. 37
Sec. 8. NRS 386.205 is hereby amended to read as follows: 38
386.205 1. In any county school district in which not more 39
than 25,000 pupils are enrolled, the board of trustees may adopt a 40
resolution dividing the geographical area of the school district into a 41
number of election districts identical to the number of elected 42
trustees. 43
2. The election districts must: 44
(a) Be single-member districts. 45
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(b) Be formed with reference to assembly districts as far as is 1
practicable. 2
(c) Have nearly equal populations as far as is practicable. 3
3. This section does not authorize any change in the number of 4
members of the board of trustees. 5
4. If a board of trustees adopts a resolution pursuant to this 6
section, the elected members of the board continue to hold office 7
until the next following general election. 8
5. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise 9
requires, “assembly district” means any district created pursuant to 10
the provisions of chapter 218B of NRS for the election of members 11
of the Assembly. 12
Sec. 9. NRS 386.225 is hereby amended to read as follows: 13
386.225 1. Election districts created pursuant to NRS 14
386.205 may be constructed so that the: 15
(a) Voters in each election district elect a trustee to represent 16
them; or 17
(b) Trustees are elected by all of the voters in the county school 18
district. 19
In either case, each trustee must be a resident of the election 20
district which he or she represents throughout his or her term of 21
office. 22
2. The board of trustees shall adopt a resolution, after a public 23
hearing on the matter, determining whether each elected trustee will 24
be elected solely by the voters in the election district of the trustee 25
or all of the voters in the county school district. 26
Sec. 10. NRS 386.270 is hereby amended to read as follows: 27
386.270 Except as otherwise provided in NRS 386.275: 28
1. Any vacancy occurring among the elected members of a 29
board of trustees must be filled by appointment by the remaining 30
elected members of the board at a public meeting held after notice 31
of the meeting is published at least once each week for 2 weeks in a 32
newspaper qualified pursuant to the provisions of chapter 238 of 33
NRS. The appointee shall serve until the next general election, at 34
which time his or her successor must be elected for the balance of 35
the unexpired term. 36
2. Any vacancy occurring among the appointed members of a 37
board of trustees must be filled by the appointing authority. The 38
appointee serves for the balance of the unexpired term and may be 39
reappointed. 40
3. Any person appointed to fill a vacancy must have the 41
qualifications provided in NRS 386.165 , [or] 386.240, or section 1 42
of this act, as applicable. 43
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Sec. 11. NRS 386.327 is hereby amended to read as follows: 1
386.327 1. [Each] Except as otherwise provided in section 1 2
of this act, each person who is elected or appointed to serve as a 3
member of the board of trustees of a school district shall complete 4
training for professional development during the first and third year 5
of the term of the member which must include not less than 6 hours 6
of instruction covering: 7
(a) Laws relating to public records, including, without 8
limitation, the provisions of chapter 239 of NRS; 9
(b) The Open Meeting Law, including, without limitation, the 10
provisions of chapter 241 of NRS; 11
(c) Local government employee-management relations, 12
including, without limitation, the provisions of chapter 288 of NRS; 13
(d) The system of K-12 public education in this State, including, 14
without limitation, the provisions of title 34 of NRS; 15
(e) Local government ethics, including, without limitation, the 16
provisions of chapter 281A of NRS; 17
(f) The manner in which to identify and prevent violence in 18
public schools, including, without limitation, sexual violence; 19
(g) Financial management, including, without limitation, 20
information concerning oversight, accountability and audits; 21
(h) The fiduciary duties of a member of the board of trustees of 22
a school district, including, without limitation, the provisions of this 23
chapter; and 24
(i) Laws relating to employment and contracts. 25
2. A member of the board of trustees of a school district shall 26
provide written certification of completion of the training required 27
by this section to the clerk of the board of trustees. 28
3. If a member fails to complete the training or to provide the 29
written certification of completion which is required by this section, 30
the clerk must post notice of such noncompliance in a conspicuous 31
manner on the Internet website of the board of trustees. The clerk 32
must also provide written notice of the noncompliance to the other 33
members of the board of trustees. 34
4. The clerk of the board of trustees shall assist each member 35
of the board as necessary to complete the training required pursuant 36
to this section. 37
H