Unopposed Nye County school board races still shape district policy

Three Nye County School District Board of Trustees seats are on the June 9 primary ballot, and all three races are unopposed. That leaves voters with little choice at the top of the ticket, but the people elected in Areas I, V and VII will still help decide how Nye County schools spend money, hire and evaluate leadership, and respond to the district’s biggest challenges.

Leslie M. Campos is seeking reelection in Area I after first being appointed in 2023 and then keeping the seat in the 2024 election. She now serves as board president and has said she wants to keep fighting for rural schools, keep learning from past mistakes and continue pushing district improvements. Campos has pointed to her advocacy for a new elementary school in Tonopah as one of her key priorities. Chelsy Fischer, the Area V trustee, is also running for another term after being elected in 2022. Fischer has said she wants to keep representing the public, protecting children and teachers, and helping drive change that makes the district better. She has also highlighted work tied to special education and fundraising for buddy benches at Hafen Elementary.

Area VII candidate Nicole Gent did not respond to interview requests, leaving voters without a public statement from the person who could soon represent another slice of the county’s school system. The county clerk’s office lists school board trustees among the nonpartisan offices on the June 9 primary ballot, with early voting running May 23 through June 5. Early voting sites include the Nye County Clerk’s Office in Tonopah and the Bob Ruud Community Center in Pahrump.

Even without contested races, the board carries substantial power. Nye County School District says its seven trustees set policy, employ and evaluate the superintendent, negotiate with employee groups, approve the annual budget, authorize bond proposals and communicate with the community. Meetings are held every three to four weeks, mostly in the Southern District Office Boardroom, and at least one meeting each year is held in an outlying community.

Those decisions matter in a district that served 5,657 students in 25 schools last year, where 69.6% of students were economically disadvantaged. The district said it reduced chronic absenteeism by more than 5%, cut truancies, raised K-8 math proficiency by 9% and reading proficiency by 2%, while 77% of educators used Mastery Connect in its first year. After the board’s 2023 clash over Superintendent Warren Shillingburg, including the end of his contract extension and his placement on administrative leave before Laura Weir became interim superintendent, the absence of competition this year still leaves voters deciding who will oversee the next phase of district stability.