Memo: NSEA Supports SB251

As negotiated between the Clark County School District and Education Support Employees Association, the reassignment process related to surplus situations or a reduction in force allows the district to determine appropriate staffing levels and make adjustments, while providing a fair process for impacted employees. ESPs with the lowest seniority in their position go through the surplus process when schools can no longer afford or no longer need their position. This process has nothing to do with job performance. Before the passage of AB469, this had been the practice for decades.

In the fall of 2020, CCSD began requiring education support professionals to interview with a school principal as a part of the surplus process, impacting over 50 ESPs. Several ESPs were rejected for a lateral position through no fault of their own, at an individual principal’s discretion. This created an untenable situation for these workers, who were still technically employed, but without a position. During this new process, serious questions of racial bias were raised. ESPs are the lowest-paid employees of the Clark County School District and reflect the diversity of the school communities they serve. A decision by the EMRB halted the new process. SB251 is the pro-union way to settle the disagreement related to the employee surplus process, honoring the collective bargaining process of two parties coming to agreement.

SB251 also is about fairness, providing that policies for transfer and reassignment of all school district employees is a mandatory subject of bargaining, which expands existing language which only includes teachers.