School District Joins in Support of iNVest 2025

The Churchill County School District approved joining the other 16 county-elected school boards in the state along with the State Public Charter School Authority to support the iNVest 2025 effort, a biennial document establishing the cornerstone of the legislative effort going into the next Legislative session.

Created by the school district superintendents across the state and the executive director of the charter school authority, the document lays out five ways the superintendents see Nevada can improve student achievement. The superintendents, represented by their professional organization, the Nevada Association of School Superintendents (NASS), developed the document to share priorities with legislators and stakeholders, using it as the foundation for their legislative efforts each year. 

“Together, NASS and policymakers have positively shaped legislation for the students of Nevada for over two decades, and there is still work to be done,” according to a statement in the information document presented to the board during the last meeting. 

Asking the question, “What is needed to improve student achievement in Nevada,” the iNVest 2025 document asks the Nevada Legislature to play a pivotal role in strengthening the education landscape and outcomes by passing legislation that continues substantial increases in the per pupil funding, and “fully fund the weights assigned” in the funding formula for equitable support no matter the zip code or circumstance.

The document also directs the legislature to provide conditions for innovation to support the Learner-Centered and Future-Ready systems where students can develop competencies outlined in the Nevada State Portrait. All that means the legislature would effectively modernize the education statutes while avoiding additional mandates. 

There is a strong push through the document to “measure what matters” and urges legislators to provide an accountability system that shares the “whole” student story. “The current school accountability system must be modernized,” the document states that the legislative session is an opportunity to consider what matters most for student success and how to measure it.

Superintendent Derild Parsons said there is a focus on making changes that more accurately measure what goes on in schools instead of using the Star System, which many argue does not accurately reflect what students are learning.

iNVest 2025 also asks the legislature to ensure funding to support mental health professionals for all schools and students in Nevada and to dedicate funds to help districts design environments conducive to student-centered learning. The document encourages funding to meet operational and preventative maintenance.

Parsons said that regarding facilities, “We’re more fortunate than some districts because we’ve been able to maintain our buildings. Other districts have not been in that position.” He said that some districts need new schools, and the costs are approaching $75 million to build one school.

Trustee Joe McFadden said he was recently at the Nevada Association of School Boards (NASB) meeting, where that group voted to partner with NASS to support this effort. 

NASS will also focus on continuing the SB 231 funding, saying, “The 4.25% salary increase will end if that funding is not continued.”