MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Eighty-First Session February 2, 2021

The Committee on Education was called to order by Chair Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod at 1:43 p.m. on Tuesday, February 2, 2021, Online. Copies of the minutes, including the Agenda (Exhibit A), the Attendance Roster (Exhibit B), and other substantive exhibits, are available and on file in the Research Library of the Legislative Counsel Bureau and on the 's website at www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:

Assemblywoman Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod, Chair Assemblywoman , Vice Chair Assemblywoman Assemblyman Edgar Flores Assemblywoman Assemblywoman Assemblywoman Assemblywoman Assemblywoman Assemblyman Richard McArthur Assemblywoman Rochelle T. Nguyen Assemblywoman Assemblywoman

COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT:

None

GUEST LEGISLATORS PRESENT:

None

STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:

Kristi Robusto, Committee Policy Analyst Amanda Marincic, Committee Counsel Sarah Baker, Committee Secretary Joan Waldock, Committee Secretary Melissa Loomis, Committee Assistant

Minutes ID: 109

*CM109* Assembly Committee on Education February 2, 2021 Page 2

OTHERS PRESENT: None

Chair Bilbray-Axelrod: [Roll was called and Committee protocols explained.] Welcome to the first meeting for the Assembly Committee on Education for the 2021 Legislative Session. Please note for the record that we do have a quorum.

We are going to start with public comment. [There was none.] We will come back to public comment at the end.

We are going to do some welcomes and introductions today. We are going to consider Committee policies, review background Committee briefs, and hear an update on legislation passed during the 80th Legislative Session.

Before we begin, I would like everyone to be familiar with our Committee members, myself, and the staff. I will start with myself. I know everyone loves introducing themselves, so we are going to say our name, where we are from, our district, when we were elected, and in the spirit of our former chairperson, Tyrone Thompson, something fun that maybe we might not know about you.

I am Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod. I was first elected in 2016, so this is my third session. I am very excited to be chairing this Committee. I am a mother to an amazing 13-year-old girl named Molly, and it has been an interesting year for my husband and I with virtual school. I am sure many of you can relate.

The fun thing that I am going to tell you—I met my husband when I was a barista at Starbucks. He was my first customer, and he would come in every morning at 5:30 a.m. on his way to teach kindergarten in Compton. We had a little romance over the counter for several months before he got the nerve to ask me out, and the rest is history. I have a long line of educators in my family, everything from regular educators all the way up to administration and even at the collegiate level. That is something kind of fun about me. We will move on to my amazing Vice Chair, Brittney Miller.

Assemblywoman Miller: I am excited to be here and to have the opportunity to serve as vice chair. This is also my third session. I represent Assembly District No. 5 down in in the Summerlin Lakes area. This is also my third session on the Education Committee. I also served two sessions on the interim Education Committee. As many people know, I am a Clark County school teacher, so education is obviously something that I live and breathe pretty much every minute of the day. I am glad to be here and looking forward to the work we will be able to do during this session to continue to advance education for everyone in the state.

Chair Bilbray-Axelrod: Are you going to tell us something we might not know about you?

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Assemblywoman Miller: I cannot think of anything very interesting, but if I think of something, I will let you know.

Chair Bilbray-Axelrod: That is okay, because I forgot to say my district: I represent Assembly District No. 34, which is part of Summerlin, part of Desert Shores, next to the Community College of Southern Nevada. Next, I will call on Assemblyman Flores.

Assemblyman Flores: I represent Assembly District No. 28 here in the great state of Nevada. I represent northeast Las Vegas. I have had the pleasure of serving on this Committee since 2015, and I look forward to working alongside all of you. I know we have some very passionate human beings here. Hopefully, we can do some good work for our students.

I do not really have anything fun, but I am big into mentoring. I think mentoring is incredibly important. I have been doing it since 2002. That is my passion. I think we have a responsibility to help each other out.

Assemblywoman Tolles: It is so wonderful to see everyone—old friends and new friends—and wonderful that we can come together virtually here. I represent Assembly District No. 25, which is in northern Nevada and covers west Reno all the way to the California border. I have some experience in education myself: I teach at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), and I taught at Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) as well for five years. I have been teaching at UNR for about 16 years now.

I am a proud mom of two beautiful daughters. One has graduated from high school and now is attending college, and the other one is in her senior year in the Washoe County School District. We are experiencing all the joys of online education ourselves. I have been able to make that transition as a teacher and have had all those experiences myself as well as being a mom of a student, so I bring that view to this Committee this session.

Something you might not know about me: I was not a great student in high school, and I actually got my start at community college, which is why it is so near and dear to my heart. It was at community college that I had a few teachers that really poured into me, and I ended up doing well my first semester away from home, got good grades, and thought, Wow, I could do anything. That inspired me to then go on to a university. I never thought I would ever graduate from a university, let alone teach at one, and I can tell you very specifically that it was some teachers that believed in me more than I believed in myself that really changed my life. One of the reasons why I am so passionate about education is because it did not always come easily to me. I am grateful for people who invested in me, and I got the opportunity to invest in others. I want to see every student in Nevada have that same chance to succeed.

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Assemblywoman Krasner: I was first elected in November 2016. I have served three regular sessions in the Nevada Legislature and two special sessions. Chair Bilbray-Axelrod and I were freshmen the same year when we entered the Legislature. I have been on this Committee for all three sessions.

Education is so important to everybody because our children are the future of our state and our country. I also have a background in education, teaching at the University of Phoenix in political science, advocacy and mediation, and business law to the M.B.A. students, and at TMCC teaching courses on the U.S. Constitution and the Nevada Constitution for more than a decade. Assembly District No. 26 is the district that I am proud and honored to represent, and something you do not know about me is . . . I cannot really think of anything. I think you know everything about me.

Assemblywoman Duran: I represent Assembly District No. 11, which is in downtown Las Vegas as well as part of the east side. I was appointed in 2019. I am a grievance specialist for the Culinary Union (Local 226). I have worked with the rank and file in the hospitality industry. I represent many workers through the grievance process to try to get resolution and find a happy medium. My district is an underserved community and I think education is going to be key for all of us. We have many uncharted territories to overcome and I think we can do that with this Committee.

Education is key for all our children, our future. I am a mother of two and a grandmother of four, so I have a vested interest in my grandchildren having the best education possible. I look forward to working with everybody. One thing about me is that my nickname is Bea, so I have a lot of bees. I have quite a collection, not only here in Reno, but in Las Vegas. I have a lot of bees surrounding me.

Assemblywoman Gorelow: I represent Assembly District No. 35, which is in southwest Las Vegas. If you are familiar with the area, it is the Mountain's Edge and Southern Highlands area known as Coronado Ranch. I was first elected in 2018. This is my second session, and my second session on the Education Committee. I was also on the interim Education Committee. I am very excited to be here and continue our hard work. I have two children. Both are now in high school. I have been with my husband now a little over twenty years.

Something you may or may not know—I started playing the flute when I was in the fourth grade. I do not play it very often, but occasionally, I do still pick it up, probably to the chagrin of my neighbors, because I am sure they can hear me. I also play the piano. With this pandemic and having to stay home, I have picked up a couple of extra pieces of music, and now my repertoire is a little bit bigger. If you are around my neighborhood around 5:30 or 6 o'clock, that is when I play for about half an hour.

Chair Bilbray-Axelrod: That is wonderful.

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Assemblywoman Hansen: I am so honored to be on the Education Committee with you and under your leadership. I was first elected in 2018. This is my second session and my second chance at being on the Education Committee, which is really important to me. I represent Assembly District No. 32. I live in Sparks, Nevada, in Washoe County, but my district covers seven counties: Washoe all the way to the border where I live in Sparks, and then Lander, Humboldt, Pershing, Mineral, Esmeralda Counties, and a chunk of Nye County that includes Tonopah, where I got to live for a little bit as a child. It is 38,000 wonderful square miles, and I love the district. I have an urban and rural feel to my district, and I am honored to represent my constituents and everybody in the state.

I am the mom of eight kids, and they are grown and all college graduates. Education is important to us. My youngest is just about ready to graduate from nursing school, so we are very proud. I have 20 grandchildren; the 20th was born in 2020. Something fun about me that you might never have imagined is that I am dying to go to a Justin Timberlake concert. When the pandemic is over, I am getting a ticket.

One last thing: we all miss Chairman Thompson very much, and I know he is here with us in spirit. He gave us these little key rings last session, and I keep it on my legislative key ring. It says, "It takes a big heart to help shape little minds." I hope we keep that spirit about us on the Education Committee—that it is about these children, these wonderful kids in our state— and do what we can to help and support them and their families.

Assemblywoman Hardy: I am excited to be on this Committee again. This is my second session. I was elected in 2018, and I served on the Education Committee last session. It was wonderful to be on that Committee. As I think we all agree, education is so important. It opens the doors for the future and gives you those opportunities if you have that background in education. I think we all agree why we want to be on this Committee and do what we can for education in Nevada.

I represent Assembly District No. 22, which covers the Green Valley Ranch area in Henderson and part of Anthem, and the southern part of Clark County. I have two daughters. They are both in their twenties, and my oldest daughter is finishing up her last semester of law school at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). She is up here doing her externship. It is fun to have her up here. My youngest daughter also goes to UNLV. She is a senior studying criminal justice. They have experienced the online schooling as well, which, I can tell you, is a challenge, trying to do that through law school, but they are both doing well.

I have two fun little things I wanted to share. One is about me and our Chairwoman: we have known each other since we were children, because our dads are best friends. We both tried out for Annie, the musical, one year. I do not know if she even remembers this, but we both went to the little tryout and sang "Tomorrow." We were probably 10 or 11 years old; that is a fun memory that I have of her.

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Something else that is kind of unique: a lot of people do not know about this but in Washington, D.C. they have the National Cherry Blossom Festival, and each state has a princess. I was the Cherry Blossom Princess for Nevada in 1990, and I followed Chairwoman Bilbray-Axelrod's sister, Erin, as the representative for Nevada. You get to spend a week in Washington, D.C., during that Cherry Blossom Festival and go to all these wonderful events at the Capitol. They have receptions and balls and all kinds of things. I was able to represent Nevada, and that is something I will always cherish. It was also the year that UNLV won the basketball championship. That was cool for all of us who love UNLV.

Chair Bilbray-Axelrod: I was a Cherry Blossom Princess myself in 1996. We have that in common as well.

Assemblyman McArthur: I represent Assembly District No. 4, which is in the far northwest part of Las Vegas. I do not have a background in education, but I think it is very important. I have kids, I have grandkids, and through them you find out how important education really is. I want to get things done in education. I know a lot of us have different ideas, belief systems, and backgrounds, but hopefully we can come together and get some good things done as far as the education system goes. That is what I would like to do, and that is why I wanted to get on the Education Committee.

As far as something interesting about me, I will just give you a quickie of my background. I did play a lot of sports, but after college, I joined the U.S. Air Force, and I was in the U.S. Air Force for six years. I was a pilot. After that, I joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). I was an FBI agent for 25 years, and for my last 15 years at the FBI, I was in the FBI office in Las Vegas. Nothing too fascinating about me. I do ride dirt bikes.

Assemblywoman Nguyen: I represent Assembly District No. 10 in central Las Vegas, the heart of the medical district, if you are familiar with southern Nevada. This is my second legislative session, and my first time on the Education Committee. I am excited to learn from all of you, and I am glad that I will have resources to go to with any questions I have about this area.

I have two kids in the Clark County School District right now. They are in the third and fifth grades. Watching them go through virtual learning and me learning fifth grade math has been quite the challenge, probably more so for the parents. My sister is an educator in Washington State, and she also has young children. She always tells me, and I tend to agree with her, that the kids are more adaptable. They are learning the technology much faster than the parents and the teachers ever will be able to. I agree with that. After watching us try to maneuver through this virtual session start, I think that is a very fair statement. I look forward to this Committee and everything we are going to be able to move forward this year.

Here is my one interesting thing: I do not really collect a lot of stuff, I am a minimalist, but I do love records and I do love plants. Behind multicultural education are plants I am Assembly Committee on Education February 2, 2021 Page 7

propagating, and I do have a record player and quite a record collection here in my office in Carson City as well.

Assemblywoman Torres: I am excited to serve on the Education Committee for the second time. I am the representative for Assembly District No. 3 in the heart of Las Vegas. I grew up in that community. I also come from a family of teachers: my mom is a teacher, my grandpa on my dad's side is an educator, both my siblings are teachers, and I, too, am an educator. I teach middle school and high school reading, or English Language Arts (ELA).

Something interesting about me: I have a lifelong commitment to learning. During the pandemic, my new skill has been yoga. I am trying to keep that up during the session; I will let you know how long it lasts. I have been doing daily yoga, even before school, so at 6:00 or 6:15 a.m. I am excited to continue to serve on this Committee.

Chair Bilbray-Axelrod: Good for you. I am always impressed when people use the pandemic for something that improves their lives.

Assemblywoman Marzola: I represent Assembly District No. 21, part of Henderson and part of Las Vegas. This is my first time serving. I am excited to be on the Education Committee. Education has been super important in my life as well as my son's life. I have a 24-year-old son. He attends the medical school at UNR, so at least I am close to him, only 45 minutes away. I want to make a difference. I really understand the ins and outs of how education can change your life, and so that is why it was so important for me to be on this Committee.

A fun fact: I absolutely love to dance. When I am a little stressed out, even if it is in my living room, I turn the music up and I just dance, and I love it.

Chair Bilbray-Axelrod: At this time, I would like to introduce our Committee staff. I will start with our legal counsel. Her name is Amanda Marincic. She grew up in Minnesota, and she earned her bachelor's degree in business law at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. She attended law school at the University of Iowa College of Law. Amanda moved to Nevada and joined the Legal Division of the Legislative Counsel Bureau (LCB) in 2018. She served as committee counsel on the Legislative Committee on Education this past interim. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, playing piano—you have someone to play with, Assemblywoman Gorelow—and horseback riding.

Our committee policy analyst is Kristi Robusto. She grew up in Southern California, where she earned her bachelor's degree in kinesiology and her master's degree in exercise physiology, both from San Diego State University. If that was not enough, she went and got her Ph.D. in public health with an emphasis in health behavior from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). After moving to Nevada, she worked for Nevada's Division Assembly Committee on Education February 2, 2021 Page 8

of Public and Behavioral Health before joining the Research Division of the LCB in March of 2020. This will be her first session. Welcome.

Our committee manager is Nick Christie. He was born in San Jose, California, but his family moved to France and then England when he was still a toddler, which is where he grew up. After graduating from the University of Wales and traveling across the , in 2009, he decided to spend a weekend in Las Vegas that ended up lasting ten years. While there, he met his wife, Marci, who was born and raised in Las Vegas. Two years ago, they decided to exchange one extreme climate for another and moved to Lake Tahoe. They have two young boys: Wesley, who is two, and Felix, who just joined them in December. This is Nick's first session in the Nevada Legislature, and he is beyond excited to be working to help this important Committee with this essential work.

We also have three committee secretaries. Sarah Baker is a native Nevadan, born and raised in Reno, where she studied literature, writing, and five foreign languages at UNR (French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Russian, if you are curious). She also has a master's degree in creative writing from the Ohio State University and a master's in journalism from UNR. She hopes one day to be a published novelist. When she is not reading or writing, she enjoys knitting, hiking, cooking, and tending her houseplants. This is also her first legislative session.

Next, we have Lori McLeary. This is her fifth session in the Legislature. She retired in 2011 from the Department of Taxation after 32 years with the State of Nevada. Five years ago, she bought an older home she has been working on nonstop. When she is not working in the Legislature, she enjoys woodworking, building things from wood, and making cute and funny signs for family and friends on her Cricut cutting machine. During the pandemic, she built her first potting table, and recently made a fun bar and grill area.

Finally, we have Joan Waldock. Joan spent most of her time in the Pacific Northwest. She and her husband moved to Nevada in 2013. They have three children, nine grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. This is her fourth legislative session, and she is happy to help the Assembly Committee on Education.

Additionally, we have our committee assistant, Melissa Loomis. She was born and raised in Oakland, California, but has lived in Nevada for so long, she considers herself a Nevadan at this point. She received her bachelor's degree from UNLV and put it to work in a career with Nevada Magazine at the Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs. She is a proud mom of a U.S. Air Force airman and the "fur mom" to a cute but deranged homicidal cat her son left behind when he joined the military. Melissa looks forward to serving the members and the staff of the Education Committee this session. Feel free to reach out to her any time via Skype if you need her assistance.

I have just realized that I did not say that I am a third generation Nevadan myself. My father was born in Nevada, in Las Vegas, in 1938. Everyone is talking about their roots in Nevada, and I would be remiss if I did not.

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That was the fun part. Now we adopt the Committee Policies (Exhibit C). All members and the public have access to the policies on the Nevada Electronic Legislative Information System (NELIS). They are posted on our NELIS page if people want to read along. We are going to update NELIS as much as possible. I know it is difficult with these virtual meetings, so we really want the members of the public to know that we will be updating as often as we get information.

Committee work is governed by the Standing Assembly Rules that we adopted on the first day of session yesterday. The proposed policies in front of everyone simply add more details about our meetings. Highlights of the priority components of the policy are getting the exhibits on time, and why? Once again, we want to be very transparent during the session. This is paramount, especially when we are dealing with virtual meetings. We are creating an atmosphere of respect, courtesy, and professionalism. We may have differences of opinion from time to time, but there is no reason we cannot be courteous and respectful to one another. I would like everyone to make sure they show up on time. We only have 120 days to get these policies passed. Let us show up ready to work on time.

Are there any questions on the policies? [There were none.]

ASSEMBLYMAN FLORES MOVED TO ADOPT THE ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION COMMITTEE POLICIES.

ASSEMBLYWOMAN NGUYEN SECONDED THE MOTION.

Any discussion? [There was none.] I will call for a vote.

THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Next, we will move on to our Committee Brief (Exhibit D). Our committee policy analyst, Kristi Robusto, will now review the Committee Brief and provide updates on the legislation passed during the 80th Legislative Session. Following the presentation, we will ask questions.

Kristi Robusto, Committee Policy Analyst: Today I will provide an overview of the Committee Brief as well as a slightly expanded review of key education legislation passed during the 80th Session (2019) and the 31st Special Session (2020). Finally, I will provide a very brief update on the status and implementation efforts related to some of the legislation passed last session that was presented to the Interim Legislative Committee on Education (LCE).

The Committee Brief gives an overview of the activities and significant legislation enacted by this Committee last session. It also serves as a good resource and may help provide added context for this session by highlighting an overview of the Committee.

You will find some of the Committee staff contact information as well as a summary of the Research Division topics covered in recent sessions in education committees, potential and Assembly Committee on Education February 2, 2021 Page 10

anticipated topics for this current session, some recommendations made by the Interim Legislative Committee on Education, a link to that committee's bulletin, and links to some of the other interim study reports and recommendations that came out during interim. There is a list of the current pre-filed bills for your review, some required reports to the Legislature, and other relevant publications related to the Committee.

In the 80th Session, 84 bills were referred to this Committee [page 3, Exhibit D]. Of those, 54 were out of Committee and 48 were approved by the Legislature. We are anticipating a similar number will be referred to the Committee this session. Some highlighted bills enacted begin on page 4 of the Committee Brief and are outlined from the 80th Session as well as a couple of highlighted bills that were enacted during the 31st Special Session that impact education specifically.

For pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, you will notice a range of topics that were addressed [page 4], from the health and safety of pupils such as Assembly Bill 114 of the 80th Legislative Session, Senate Bill 80 of the 80th Legislative Session, Senate Bill 89 of the 80th Legislative Session, and Senate Bill 204 of the 80th Legislative Session. You will see there were programs or requirements for addressing gaps in achievement for English learners, such as in Assembly Bill 219 of the 80th Legislative Session and Senate Bill 467 of the 80th Legislative Session. Highlighted are measures that enacted teacher incentives for Title I or underperforming schools in Assembly Bill 196 of the 80th Legislative Session. Assembly Bill 304 of the 80th Legislative Session addressed pupil-teacher ratios for the K-3 population, as well as pupil-counselor and pupil-psychologist, and pupil-social worker ratios.

Other topics addressed charter schools [page 5], such as the charter school growth management plans in Assembly Bill 462 of the 80th Legislative Session, as well as other requirements that require Nevada's Department of Education (NDE) to evaluate the impact and validity of the statewide performance evaluation system in Senate Bill 475 of the 80th Legislative Session. As has been discussed frequently over the interim and leading up to session, Senate Bill 543 of the 80th Legislative Session was key legislation passed during the 80th Legislative Session that replaces the Nevada Plan funding formula with the new Pupil-Centered Funding Plan.

Additionally, you will see on page 6 of the Brief, related to postsecondary education, the Assembly Joint Resolution 5 (2017) and Senate Bill 350 of the 80th Legislative Session, as well as two pertinent bills enacted during the 31st Special Session. Assembly Bill 3 of the 31st Special Session was the major appropriation bill passed during the special session, as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the state's budget. Senate Bill 2 of the 31st Special Session allowed the Board of Regents, in response to the state emergency, to temporarily waive or modify certain eligibility requirements for a student to receive the Governor Guinn Millennium Scholarship.

Legislation from the 80th Session also charged the interim Legislative Committee on Education with various activities that needed to be completed throughout the interim. Some of this is outlined for you in your Brief [pages 7 and 8, Exhibit D]. Senate Bill 332 of the Assembly Committee on Education February 2, 2021 Page 11

80th Legislative Session directed the LCE to conduct a study concerning the provision of a safe and respectful learning environment free of bullying, cyberbullying, and discriminatory harassment to ensure students enrolled at all levels of the education system are provided equal access to education. The committee was charged to consult with and solicit input from various persons and organizations with specified expertise and experience. However, due to COVID-19 interruptions, instead of doing it through the committee, initially the staff for the LCB worked with stakeholders and facilitated a working group and then presented the findings and recommendations which are acknowledged in the LCE Bulletin.

Additionally, as for Assembly Bill 276 of the 80th Legislative Session, the committee was required to review applications and appoint members to the Nevada State Teacher Recruitment and Retention Advisory (TRRA) Task Force, which I am going to refer to as the "task force" as I speak on it further. Membership to the task force was appointed by the LCE at its January meeting and the final report and recommendations from the task force were heard by the LCE in its August meeting. The task force proposed a total of 15 recommendations: three were related to recruitment of teachers, six were related to retention, and six were general recommendations. Additionally, Assembly Bill 462 of the 80th Legislative Session charged the committee to review the charter schools' Growth Management Plan developed by the State Public Charter School Authority, and the LCE received and reviewed updates on the plan at three of the committee's meetings.

In addition to what the LCE was charged with doing, they heard several updates on efforts related to several bills passed during the 80th Legislative Session. After review of many of the meetings' minutes, they had a very, very busy interim with the number of updates that they heard from the 80th Session as well as the 31st Special Session.

The committee heard updates on the Millennium Scholarship Eligibility Waiver as mentioned in Senate Bill 2 of the 31st Special Session from the Nevada System of Higher Education, and received the final report on some of the decisions and steps being taken in order to enact that. They also received updates on 29 bills enacted during the 80th Legislative Session. About half were Senate bills and half were Assembly bills, with six of those that were presented and discussed at more than one meeting.

I have highlighted some of them, such as Assembly Bill 276 of the 80th Legislative Session, which was the task force appointment and reports. Assembly Bill 462 of the 80th Legislative Session on the charter school growth management plan was heard multiple times. Senate Bill 314 of the 80th Legislative Session was actually heard twice with regard to the status of the State Financial Literacy Advisory Council, and Senate Bill 475 of the 80th Legislative Session required that Nevada's Department of Education present information on the evaluation they were required to do during the interim on the impact and validity of the statewide performance evaluation system.

As you would expect, they also heard multiple updates on progress from the Commission on School Funding, as the Commission met and started to put together its recommendations for the Governor. Other key 80th Session legislation was discussed and heard, and many of the Assembly Committee on Education February 2, 2021 Page 12

required reports were submitted to the LCE and discussed during the interim, such as reports from Assembly Bill 114 of the 80th Legislative Session on student suicidal ideation and attempts, as well as many others. I am happy to pull additional information on that for the Committee or for anybody else. As Research Division staff, we are your professional, nonpartisan staff, so please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions.

Chair Bilbray-Axelrod: This is a great report. I would like to highlight the glossary of education acronyms [pages 11 and 12, Exhibit D]. Please refer to that. I believe everyone will find it very helpful.

Are there any questions or discussions on the Committee Brief from the Committee members? [There was none.] We will move on to our final public comment. [There was none.]

I will open it to members. Assemblywoman Miller, did you think of something we did not know about you?

Assemblywoman Miller: Since you came back to me, I guess what I will say is that one of the things that many Nevadans do not realize about me is that once you become a teacher, your identity and classification is that of a teacher. I do not think people really understand how diverse and robust my professional background in education actually is. I have worked in many different fields, including years in workforce development, prisoner reentry, and education—not as a teacher but in administrative roles, as a program developer and an evaluator—and I have hired and trained and supervised hundreds of people. I also have some years as a trainer in banking and finance, and I am also a little older than people generally think I am. All those years do add up.

I say that because when I came to Nevada and was asking where I was needed the most, where did I see the biggest area I could make an impact, and where I was needed—because I am a public servant at heart—it was very clear it was in education. I felt the best thing I could do was become a teacher to become part of the solution here. My perspective when it comes to education is not just from a singular perspective, but from these 25 years of professional experience—diverse education and professional experiences. I think that is what is necessary for a well-rounded comprehensive view on education.

Chair Bilbray-Axelrod: I appreciate you sharing that. Assemblywoman Krasner, did you think of anything?

Assemblywoman Krasner: I did not tell you that I have a bachelor's degree and a juris doctor degree. I am married and I have two adult children. Something few people know about me: I used to be the president of the Reno Philharmonic Guild. I like classical music.

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Chair Bilbray-Axelrod: The last thing I will say if there are no other comments from members is that this week is Counselor Appreciation Week. If there are counselors out there, or if any of you are watching, we thank you for what you do for kids and parents.

With that, we are going to adjourn this meeting [at 2:34 p.m.]

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

Sarah Baker Committee Secretary

APPROVED BY:

Assemblywoman Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod, Chair

DATE: Assembly Committee on Education February 2, 2021 Page 14

EXHIBITS

Exhibit A is the Agenda.

Exhibit B is the Attendance Roster.

Exhibit C is a document titled "Assembly Committee on Education: Committee Policies, 2021 Legislative Session," presented by Assemblywoman Bilbray-Axelrod.

Exhibit D is a document titled "Assembly Committee on Education Committee Brief," dated February 2021, presented by Kristi Robusto, Committee Policy Analyst, Research Division, Legislative Counsel Bureau.