Board authorizes president, vice president to negotiate incoming superintendent contract amid concerns over counsel’s ties

The Washoe County School District Board of Trustees voted 5–2 on May 26 to give the board president and vice president authority to negotiate an employment agreement with incoming superintendent Tiffany McMaster and to retain the law firm Simon Hall Johnston to assist with drafting and negotiations.

The motion, moved by Trustee Nichollet and seconded by Trustee Phoenix, said the board would "provide authority to the board president and vice president to negotiate the employment agreement between the board of trustees and Tiffany McMaster and to retain Simons Hall and Johnston to assist in the negotiations and drafting of an employment agreement between the board of trustees and Tiffany McMaster." The motion passed 5–2.

Debate centered on whether the board should retain Anthony Hall — a lawyer who has worked with the district and whose firm would be engaged — or instead choose counsel with no current contractual ties to the district. Trustee Smith said she had no personal issue with Mr. Hall’s competence but argued the practice created an appearance problem: "an attorney who is subordinate to the superintendent ... feels blurry even if it doesn't qualify as a conflict," she said, asking the board to consider using an attorney who did not also perform work that reports to the superintendent.

Chief Legal Counsel Sarah Montalvo responded to questions about the client and the role of independent board counsel, saying the client designation is technical: the district is the party but "it’s really the board" that retains independent counsel, and independent board counsel represents the board’s interests. Trustees noted the engagement letter allows the firm to designate other lawyers if the board prefers someone other than Mr. Hall to lead the work.

Supporters of the firm's retention emphasized Mr. Hall’s experience and the practical limits of finding equally experienced outside counsel quickly. Some trustees said the firm’s engagement language is broad enough that associates could perform parts of the work if needed, and that Mr. Hall had told the board he did not identify a material conflict.

Trustees debated the process for gathering input from the full board during negotiations. Several trustees asked that the negotiating pair (the president and vice president) remain open to input from other trustees by email or conversation; the president affirmed that trustees could submit questions and ideas to the negotiating team.

Outcome and next steps: the motion authorizes the negotiating team to proceed and retains Simon Hall Johnston to assist. The board recorded the vote as 5–2; Trustee Smith announced she would vote no on principle. The board did not adopt additional procedural constraints at the meeting; trustees indicated they expect to provide informal input to the negotiating team during the process.