Letter: Parent concerned about actions of Douglas County School Board

Dear fellow parents and friends; Sadly I’m writing to you again regarding the recent actions of the Douglas County School Board. They are calling a special meeting with only a week’s notice to fire the district's current attorneys, Maupin, Cox & LeGoy, and hire criminal law attorney, Joey Gilbert. Joey Gilbert is being investigated by the State Bar of Nevada for election fraud during the last gubernatorial race. He has no educational law experience. Gilbert sanctioned for suit over Nevada primary election loss (rgj.com) Joey Gilbert ordered to pay $161,000 in attorneys fees to Lombardo over failed election challenge – The Nevada Independent.

The goal of our board is to fight against the State of Nevada on contentious issues which will trigger an instant lawsuit from the ACLU. School boards across the country are losing hundreds of thousands of tax dollars spent on legal fees in similar situations. The current legal counsel has represented the county for 20 years. Maupin, Cox and LeGoy specialize in Education Law and were recently voted as one of the “Best Law Firms” in Nevada by US News for 2023. Maupin, Cox, & LeGoy Reno, NV General Practice Law Firm (mcllawfirm.com) have been operating on a loyalty contract with Douglas County School District (DCSD) and have been offering their legal services under a 2014 contract. This means their prices have not significantly changed in almost ten years, presenting a huge discount to DCSD in legal fees.

Hiring Joey Gilbert and his law firm may potentially cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for Douglas County School District. Money that could be spent on teachers, staff, and their salaries. Money that could be spent on improving classroom technology, providing supplies to programs like agriculture, the arts, music, science, etc, and improving overall school structures. Ultimately this can have a terrible impact on our children for years to come, the possible ramifications of this decision are endless.

It’s appalling that our school board is wasting taxpayers' money and resources by even introducing such a biased, irrational, and politically driven agenda item. I’ve been urging the board to focus on the important items that matter to parents I speak with; low enrollment, quality education, teacher retention, compensation, benefits, and school safety but instead, they are focused on divisive, politically-driven agenda items such as this. In my opinion, it’s their job as politicians to make problems better, not worse. Their jobs are to find common ground and solve problems, not create deeper division among us.

The meeting to take action is at Douglas County High School on Wednesday the 19th at 10 a.m. - Conveniently timed when most parents are at work. Douglas County School District Public View - BoardBook Premier. The regularly scheduled board meeting will also be held at Douglas County High School on July 18 at 4 p.m. and the public can comment at 5:30 p.m.

With respect,
Melissa Rousse
Parent, community partner, business leader