Nevada elected a new Governor this year. His platform has been quite interesting when it comes to public education. Increase funding while also increasing transparency and accountability.

One of his first acts was to ask all the school districts for their most recent audits. In doing so, he is going to have the Governor’s Finance Office look at the trends, themes, and signs of waste. I think the waste in Mineral County will be eyebrow raising for him.

Mineral County spends one of the highest amounts per pupil, yet has some of the worst results. That is contrary to what we believe to be true about education. Generally, the better funded the school is, the better the academic achievement is.

Once you start digging into some of the expenses, it becomes clear that a lot of the expenditures in Mineral County have little to do with education. Spending $70,000 a year on an unqualified consultant to assist with managing grants when she never worked in grants is one singular example. There are plenty of consultants on the books that don’t seem to do much for public education.

It is unfortunate that so far, the trustees of the school just turn blind eyes to their responsibilities to the children. The students and staff deserve so much more than the Board affords them. They are supposed to be looking out for the best interest of the school, not the special interest consultant that has almost become parasitic at this point.