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Levins To Compete Against Six In CCSD Board Seat Race

Primary elections are quickly approaching,  early voting starts May 28 and election day is June 14, and candidates are in full swing to convince voters why they are the best representative to be in an elected office. 

KNPR decided to take a closer look at some of these local races, and will be talking to candidates over the next few weeks.

Mallory Levins, who is running for the Clark County School District School Board of Trustees in District A, talked to KNPR's State of Nevada about why she's running and her plans if she elected.

This seat, representing Henderson and the southern side of the Las Vegas Valley, is currently held by Deanna Wright.

There are six candidates in the race, all of whom KNPR has reached out to for interviews.

INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS

 

Why do you want to be on the school board?

I have been an educator for over a decade in this community and I’m a product of this school district, as are my parents. I come from a long line of educators who have given back to this community for decades.

Now it’s time for me to step up my game and make the greatest difference in this community that I can. I believe that being a member of the board positions me into a place where I can make these key policy decisions and great an environment that’s best for our students.

What do you teach?

I’m a college access coordinator. I work to help K-12 students and parents on the path to college. And I also teach part time at Nevada State College -- math.

What are the issues that are important to you?

So, I would say our abysmal high school graduation and college-going rates in Clark County absolutely need to be addressed. I know that it’s something we all talk about but I’m coming to this position from a different perspective and a different approach, coming at it from higher education. I understand the need for our students to be both career ready and college ready upon graduation.

What is your stance on sex ed?

I think that in the last year the board and the sex education advisory committee have done quite a bit in making sure that inaccurate information that was once being taught to our students has been removed so that’s a step in the right direction.  

But there’s much more that needs to be done to ensure that our students receive the most medically accurate, comprehensive sex education that is also inclusive to all students.

Kaufman: Including LGBT students?

Levins: Yes, absolutely.

Should we be talking to kids about birth control and sexuality when they get into high school?

Research shows that we need to deliver all options to our students. Abstinence being one of them. But also birth control options as well.

When do you think we can see some policy changes here?

One of the reasons I’m running is we need leaders in place on that board who are going to make these tough decisions but also bring groups together. We have seen how these meetings have gone in the past until 1 in the morning.

We need to make sure we have leaders in place who can listen to all sides but ultimately in the end make the best decision for our students and ensure that the opportunity to receive that quality sex education is made available to them and that it’s the parents’ choice as to whether or not the student will receive that education.

Deanna Wright currently holds the position you’re running for. Do you disagree with her on this issue or any other issues that is important to you?

From the issues that I have heard Deanna speak on, we are aligned in a lot of ways and a lot of folks are asking me, ‘Why aren’t you waiting another four years? It would be an easier race to win.’ But that’s not what this is about for me. It’s not just about winning this race. It’s about getting on that board now. And making sure that I’m a leader who actually follows through on my word and is on a mission to really address those issues.

One of the plans being floated for the restructuring of the school district includes creating ‘empowerment schools,’ which give a lot of responsibility to individual principals. Do we have the leaders to pull that model off?

We need to make sure that the support structures are in place for our administrators if we’re going to take that approach. And just as with our teachers right now, I would say we do not have the support structures in place to really be able to hold teachers and administrators accountable but not unreasonable expectations for them.

This is what we often find in Nevada are unfunded mandates. I support this idea of reorganizing the district in ways that will provide more local and decentralized control for our schools and our parents have greater access and a voice at the table. However, if we do that, we need to make sure there are support structures in place for those administrators to succeed.

So, if the school district is restructured, how do you deal with the fact that some areas of town are wealthier than others?

Whatever comes to be from AB394, the trustees that aren’t the ones to necessarily make that decision. It’s up to us to then effectively deliver and make sure there is equity across the overall district. And ensure that we don’t have these pockets of at-risk schools simply because they’re in lower income neighborhoods.  

A quarter of children who are English language learners in the younger grades are still in ELL or ESL classes in high school. Is this is a sign that these classes are failing?

I think for so many years we have not invested in ELL education and supported that group of students as much as we should. In this last legislative session, we’ve seen that there is a lot of people across the state who are trying to change that. When we look at the funding that the Legislature and the governor put forth for Zoom Schools, $100 million to support ELL education. I would say that’s a step in the right direction.

We need to once again make sure that our ELL educators are fully equipped to do their job. I would say in the past they were not.

District A candidates as listed on the ballot include James Gartside, Patricia Krajcech, Shawn Mueller, Richard Vaughan, and Deanna Lee Wright (incumbent). KNPR News has reached out to all candidates in this race to participate. 

 

 

 

Mallory Levins, candidate for District A, Clark County School District School Board of Trustees

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Prior to taking on the role of Broadcast Operations Manager in January 2021, Rachel was the senior producer of KNPR's State of Nevada program for 6 years. She helped compile newscasts and provided coverage for and about the people of Southern Nevada, as well as major events such as the October 1 shooting on the Las Vegas strip, protests of racial injustice, elections and more. Rachel graduated with a bachelor's degree of journalism and mass communications from New Mexico State University.