By Jackie Valley/The Nevada Independent

A group of trustees’ latest attempt to oust Clark County Superintendent Jesus Jara from his job overseeing the nation’s fifth-largest school district has succeeded.

Clark County Superintendent Jesus Jara leaves a Clark County School Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, after a vote to end his employment contract. (Daniel Clark/The Nevada Independent)

During a Clark County School Board of Trustees meeting Thursday evening, Trustee Irene Cepeda — caught in the middle of long-simmering tensions between board members — cast the deciding vote to terminate Jara’s employment contract, siding with Trustees Linda Cavazos, Danielle Ford and Lisa Guzman. The vote came more than three hours into the board meeting and after public comment that fluctuated from defense of Jara to harsh criticism.

Trustee Lola Brooks made a separate motion to table the termination of Jara’s contract until Jan. 4, but that attempt failed minutes before the other vote.

The vote to terminate Jara’s contract was “for convenience,” meaning trustees did not need to cite particular reasons for the action.

“I want to be very clear that my focus has never wavered from working every single day to improve the well-being of our students,” Jara said in a statement immediately after the vote. “While some members of this board seek to continue and try to run the operations of this school district and micromanage me and undermine staff, I have been dedicated to protecting staff from overreach and interference.”

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