By james art Wednesday, October 30, 2024 | 6:01 in the afternoon
The Clark County School Board has appointed a civically active UNLV administrator to the remaining open school board seat.
Nakia Jackson-Hale will represent District B, which covers the far northern urban and rural corners of the county, until December 31. The school board selected and swore her in today immediately after publicly interviewing nine candidates for the position.
Jackson-Hale, assistant dean for administration at the UNLV School of Nursing, will attend four scheduled board meetings through December. She will have full voting rights.
“I think it’s important to share the same goals and objectives, and I believe that a middle ground can be evolutionary and negotiations can be win-win,” she said during her interview. “I think sometimes the decisions that we make or don’t make directly affect kids, and I think we’re all here to make sure that our kids are assured that they have options, that they have a safe opportunity that they can thrive and grow.”
Jackson-Hale has three children at CCSD. She served on the school organizing team and parent-teacher organization at their elementary schools and remains involved with their schools now that they are grown.
Her additional community involvement includes serving on the Education Committee and as Public Affairs Chair of the National Coalition of Black Women in Las Vegas; as a member of the 40+ Double Dutch Club, a non-profit organization that empowers women for their mental health and physical fitness; the Veags chapter of Jack and Jill of America, a group of mothers dedicated to raising future African-American leaders; and the Las Vegas Bowl Huddle, which supports the bowl game and does community service year-round with initiatives like the Extra Yard for Teachers grant program.
Jackson-Hale said she has been a part of the Las Vegas community since 1999 and has lived in the Northwest Valley since 2004. She is currently a doctoral candidate in public policy at UNLV and has worked for the university for more than 20 years. In addition to her current position in the School of Nursing, she has worked in the Colleges of Law and Hospitality and coached UNLV’s cheerleading squad for several years.
Jackson-Hale will fill what is left of the term vacated early by Katie Williams. Williams resigned in September after the Clark County District Attorney’s Office filed a court petition to have her seat declared vacant due to residency issues. Metro police detectives determined she had been living in Nebraska instead of North Las Vegas for months and recommended she be charged with felony abuse of authority. She has not been arrested or charged.
Jackson-Hale said she can’t complain about how CCSD works if she doesn’t do anything to understand how it works and why certain decisions are made. She said she has been watching the school board for a while and this is an opportunity to be a part of the experience.
“I think no human being should be left behind, and I think District B has been without a voice or a seat at the table for who knows how long,” she said. “I would definitely like to engage the community and bring their voices back into this room.”
Ten people applied for the temporary position. One did not show up for today’s interview and was not counted.
In addition to Jackson-Hale, the board nominated candidates Dane Watson, Jose Solorio and Lindsey Daly. Those three nominations failed by a 3-3 vote.
Watson previously served on the board for six months as a non-voting City of North Las Vegas appointee. He stepped down to allow recently retired Rancho High School teacher and North Las Vegas City Council member Isaac Barron to fill the seat. The city initially recommended Barron last year, but some CCSD officials opposed his appointment because he was employed by the district at the time.
Solorio served on the school board in the 1990s. Daly, a dentist and involved citizen of the Moapa Valley, is active in local school affairs.
District B’s full four-year term is up for election next week, with the next full term beginning in January.