$500,000, Allegations, and Controversy Abound at Washoe County School District At today’s Washoe County School District board of trustees meeting, the board voted 6-0 to pass agenda item 3.01 and reject 3.02 against Trustee Jeff Church, with Church abstaining on both. 3.01 came at the request of WCSD’s Chief General Counsel Neil Rombardo who asked for $500,000 to hire an outside law firm to fight Church who is the only Conservative on the board. The other agenda item 3.02 came at the request of Church to hire an outside firm to investigate allegations against him that he said he had evidence were the result of a conspiracy of two employees to work with a senior staff member to smear and attack him as he runs for re-election. Church released a photo he claims disproves the false allegations since he was never in the parking lot with the suspected accusers, but inside on camera going over paperwork. Church’s request was denied, while the board majority’s under Smith was approved. The controversy is centered around two unidentified female employees who are alleging that Church harassed them. Church contends the accusations are false and are coming from fellow trustees such board president Beth Smith who aren’t aligned with him politically. She can be heard on the video continuously cutting Church off then calling for the vote. The $500,000 Romnardo requested to fight Trustee Church legally, will come directly out of the budget that pays for school programs for students and employee salaries. The agenda items from Rombardo regarding Church explicitly called for trustees to consider his “character, possible misconduct, professional competence or physical or mental health.” Jeff Church is a retired Reno Police Sergeant and United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel. In 2020 he was elected to the WCSD board of trustees to represent District A, the area east of the airport and south to Carson City, by a 19 percentage point margin. #reno #washoecounty #nevada #775 #education