LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — It has been a turbulent week for the Clark County School District Council.

Trustee Katie Williams resigned after the Clark County Attorney’s Office alleged she was living out of state in violation of Nevada law.

On Thursday evening we saw the impact of the Board being unable to reach agreement on certain issues due to a tie vote.

And the question is: could this harm students and staff in the long run?

In addition to dealing with a vacancy that still raises many unanswered questions, the board is also working on a search for a great superintendent and is dealing with two voting blocs that, some say, often have differing opinions.

“We have a 3-3 result. So the motion will not be accepted,” said Evelyn Garcia Morales after a vote to fill a vacant committee position on Thursday evening.

This is a vote that failed not once, but twice.

Last night there was a tie between six voting members of the Board of Trustees… not once, but twice.

Although the Board currently consists of ten members, only the six elected members have voting rights.

These divided voices are nothing new for the board.

However, with Trustee Katie Williams resigning this week, there will be no tie-breaking vote.

“I don’t think anyone is surprised that we’re already seeing this split on the board,” said Rebecca Dirks Garcia, who runs the CCSD Parents Facebook group and sits on the Nevada PTA board. “There have been voting blocs for a long time, and with the removal of one of those people, it’s not surprising that we’re back to a three-on-three stalemate.”

The seventh voting member, Katie Williams, resigned this week after the Clark County District Attorney’s investigation revealed that she lived in Nebraska.

She denies living outside her district.

While some believe it was important to have someone fill Williams’ role, there are concerns about the effectiveness of the six-person vote.

According to Dirks Garcia, this puts everyone in a dilemma.

“Right now, one district is not represented at the table, which is always a problem because that community has the right to have its voice heard,” she said. “But at the same time, we have to move things forward because we can’t keep delaying. Because when the election happens, we’re going to be back in chaos because several seats will automatically become vacant at election time.”

The process to fill Williams’ position requires several steps.

The district must advertise the position, candidates must submit applications, then they must be interviewed at a public meeting, and then the board votes on the position.

While all this is happening, a big problem looms: the board is in the process of hiring a permanent superintendent.

And on Thursday, some trustees expressed concern about how a tie vote could affect that role until the position is filled.

“It could be, and it has happened, Dr. Joseph, because I’ve done my homework, that there could be a tie. And if there is a tie, that person could even refuse to accept anything in return. Is that correct?” asked Ramona Esparza Stoffregan, the trustee representing Henderson.

Dirks Garcia agrees that a divided board could prevent a good candidate from coming to Southern Nevada.

For this reason, she is convinced that the community’s input is very important when selecting the new boss.

“Regardless of how the votes are distributed, I would like to see real attention paid to the community’s comments about who the next superintendent needs to be and what qualities the next superintendent needs to bring to the job,” she said.

News 3 has reached out to Board Chair Evelyn Garcia Morales multiple times about Katie Williams’ situation, including calling out to the podium after the meeting Thursday night because we are only receiving general responses that do not answer many of our questions.

These include questions that some are calling for an investigation to answer, as it is believed that Garcia Morales knew that Williams lived out of state.

News 3 also sent out a new request Friday asking for people’s concerns about the 3-3 vote split and to begin the process of filling Williams’ vacancy.

We are waiting for an answer.

Send your tips to 702-805-0489 or email [email protected].