School board ends in confrontation

Carson City Sheriff's deputies were called to Tuesday's Carson City School Board meeting after it ended abruptly in a confrontation between teachers and trustees over a salary dispute.

Board president Joanna Wilson interrupted public comment to adjourn the meeting at 6:15 p.m., with three items remaining on the agenda, then left the room.

"This is outrageous!" shouted Eagle Valley Middle School counselor Warren Wish, above the uproar of the crowd.

Shortly afterward, the two deputies arrived.

"Someone called dispatch and said there was a pending 10-10, which is a fight," explained Deputy Wayne Gray. "They said it was verbal at that time, but it was going to turn physical."

After speaking with various teachers and board members, the deputies left.

About 30 teachers attended the meeting to call on board members to grant them the 2 percent raise they are asking for in salary negotiations.

"I don't like seeing what I see going on in negotiations," said Wish, who has worked in the district for 30 years. "I don't like seeing hard-ball tactics."

He explained that many teachers work beyond the hours they are contracted to work and volunteer to supervise during lunch hour. He suggested that teachers could opt out of the extra work.

"I am positively amazed that your group would threaten us like this," Wilson responded, amid heckles from the crowd. "And threaten the welfare of the children."

As fellow teacher Brian Wallace stepped forward to assist Wish, Wilson called for the meeting to adjourn.

Five members voted in favor, John McKenna voted against the motion, and Sheila Ward was absent.

"It's in negotiations. Both sides agreed that we're going to negotiate in private," McKenna explained. "If they don't want to honor their word, that's fine. But I think we should have sat here and took it."

Carson High School English teacher Jason Macy was disappointed with the outcome.

"I just waited here an hour and 45 minutes to speak because I thought it was important," he said. "Obviously, we're not that important. One woman gets upset at one man, and they cancel the whole thing."

Wilson advised teachers as public comment began that board members would honor the agreement to keep contract negotiations confidential, and they would not comment on the process.

Jeff Greb, president of the Ormsby County Educators Association, read to board members a survey of teachers in the district.

Of the 540 teachers, 383 returned the survey, and 68 percent either disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement: "The board of trustees is acting in your best interest and supports you in your classroom by its actions."

Trustee Bob Crowell is dismayed by that.

"The last thing I want to see us do is get into an adversarial position with the teachers," he said. "We all need to pull together to make sure the educational system comes out of this in tact.

"I'm going to do my best to do that."

The meeting began at 4:30 p.m., earlier than normal to allow trustees, parents and teachers to attend the Band-O-Rama performance at 7 p.m. Wilson had asked speakers to keep comments short so she could make the performance on time.

Contact Teri Vance at tvance@nevadaappeal.com or at 881-1272.

For Your Information:

The Carson City School Board meeting will air on Carson Access Television Channel 10 at 9 this morning, at 3 p.m. Thursday, 3:30 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday.