Trustee David Burns issued his resignation last week as the Douglas County School Board continues to grapple with their financial emergency that has led to layoffs and discussions on school closures.
According to the letter sent to the district by Burns, he says that his resignation is “due to diabetic health issues” and a recommendation by his endocrinologist that he should resign his position.
“In all fairness to Mr. Alvarado and board of trustees, which will need to have the best and most attention for the difficult situation the District is in, I am stepping down,” the letter reads. “I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.”
Burns won the seat in 2022 along with Trustee Susan Jansen and former trustee Katherine Dickerson who joined together with former trustee Doug Englekirk to form a majority board that set out to completely restructure education in Douglas County.
While education curriculum itself may not have been significantly changed, the district itself definitely was. During Burns’ tenure, the district was plagued by years of major controversies, lawsuits, the resignation of multiple staff members, and now, the financial emergency the district is currently in.
Burns was center to his own controversy after posting an opinion piece in the online blog “The Nevada Globe,” entitled Opinion: Dear DCSD Redshirts, We Will NOT Resign in which he levied insults and accusations against the organization “We Deserve a Better Board” (the ‘Redshirts’ Burns addressed) as well as named individuals he felt were personally working against himself and the board majority.
This led to calls for a censure, and the organization responded with their own address:
Burns’ announcement follows Dickerson’s resignation which came about in November, in which she stated was due to a family illness that needed her full attention.
Doug Englekirk was unseated by Erinn Miller in the November 2024 election, which leaves Trustee Jansen as the soul remaining member of the coalition that sought to shake up the Douglas County School District — and in that, they were successful. Though, in this case, successful does not always mean positive, many say.
The board will discuss accepting Burns’ resignation letter during today’s meeting.
School Consolidations
The board will also discuss school consolidation scenarios as well as cost saving analyses associated with them.
While consolidation between lack schools and valley schools were initially discussed, Superintendent Frankie Alvarado released a memo stating that would no longer be the case:
Dear DCSD School Community Members,
I want to provide an important update regarding the district’s consolidation planning efforts. After careful review and discussion, the Board of Education will no longer pursue any further consideration of a consolidation involving our Lake Tahoe schools. We recognize the significance of these schools to the Tahoe community and this decision reflects our commitment to honoring that role while continuing to address districtwide needs. The Lake Schools have experienced a consolidation with the closure and sale of Kingsbury Middle School. In addition, the Lake Schools currently have a shared staffing model and a consolidation provides minimal expenditure reductions.
At the direction of the Board of Education, district staff are now preparing additional consolidation scenarios for review. This work is part of our responsibility to ensure long‑term sustainability, maintain high‑quality educational opportunities, and direct our resources effectively for all students. As these new scenarios are developed, the Board of Education will schedule a future special meeting to review and discuss the scenarios. The district has uploaded new financial analysis documents to the budget webpage. The documents are titled “What Happened” and “10-Year General Fund Analysis.” These are independent analyses that were completed by a member of the Committee on Local Government Finance from the Department of Taxation. The district encourages our community to review this information.
The district is currently working on an education services agreement with South Lake Tahoe for access to enroll students in the Fire Science program. We anticipate this agreement to be put in place for the 2026-2027 school year. We researched other revenue opportunities, such as an individual tuition agreement for out-of-state students. The Nevada Department of Education has rejected the district’s request for approval of an individual tuition agreement to accept out-of-state students without an agreement with their resident district. Next week, I have a scheduled meeting with the Governor’s office to review our financial position. I will provide an update to the Board of Education at the January 15th regular board meeting.
At this time, the Board of Education has not made any decisions on consolidation. These conversations are not about one school community versus another. They are about all of us working together to identify a means for stabilizing our budget. We will need the creativity, insight, and partnership of our entire community as we explore what is possible. This is a time for us to listen to one another, ask questions, and consider solutions that support long‑term stability for the district and the best possible educational experience for our students. Together, we will navigate these decisions with care, collaboration, and a shared focus on what is best to maintain instructional equity for all students.
Sincerely,
Frankie Alvarado
Superintendent
Instead, new scenarios are being considered, include consolidating elementary and middle schools by location, or further consolidating schools into a K-8 model.
The first would be consolidating schools based on location — i.e. Jack’s Valley and Pinion Hills Elementary Schools would be consolidated to a “Douglas County North” Elementary School, Scarselli and C. C. Meneley Elementary Schools would become a “Douglas County South” Elementary School.
The second would be bringing 6th grade back into elementary schools before eventually phasing all valley elementary schools into K-8 models.
A cost analysis shows that, dependent on student enrollment trends, the annual savings could be around $1.29 million under this model.
The agenda states: The Superintendent will present additional school consolidation scenarios for Board consideration. All scenarios are based on enrollment trends, facility use, and a two-year budget reduction plan to ensure long-term fiscal solvency. This includes the financial implications of each model and the potential to capture enough savings to reach net-zero in our General Fund Ending Fund Balance by the end of Fiscal Year 2027. The Board is asked to review these models and identify which scenarios merit further development and community engagement, but no formal action to consolidate schools will be taken at this meeting.
A town hall meeting will be held tomorrow, January 28 at Douglas High School to discuss these potentials with the community itself.
Other items on the agenda include:
- Revisions to policies relating to volunteers and school visitors. Revisions include requirements that volunteers adhere to district dress codes, prohibition from the supervising students, and additional requirements that for overnight chaperones who are staff members in that “Chaperones must be parent volunteers, sponsors, or district staff who do not have to be released from instructional duties.” Revisions to school visitor policy similar includes prohibition from supervising students and adhering to dress code standards.
- A first draft for an intra-district open enrollment and transportation assistance policy for students attending schools outside their zoning.
The meeting will begin at 4 p.m. at Douglas High School. See the full agenda here.
