‘They run Chap like a prison’: Teachers, staff speak out at Las Vegas school

“They run Chap like a prison,” social studies teacher Sam Millis said. “Some of these problems happen at similar schools to Chap, but I think the way the school is run exacerbates these problems rather than mitigates them, and that is the failure of the Chap admin.”

On Friday afternoon, Chaparral staff were joined with students as well as union members from the Nevada State Education Association, Education Support Employees Association and Teamsters. The group protested protested outside of the school and called for an end to retaliation and discrimination.

The teachers and support staff, some of whom refer to themselves as the “Chaparral Posse” have been speaking out publicly since January, when they gathered 100 signatures on a petition that specifically addressed mistreatment from Assistant Principal Tricia Keliinoi. Their allegations are wide-ranging, including accusations of racial discrimination, mismanagement of funds and a culture of fear among students and staff.

Employees brought the petition, which included dozens of public signatures and others who wished to remain anonymous, to a Jan. 23 Clark County School Board meeting. There, they accused Keliinoi of mistreatment, and asked the school district for support. But after what they say has been little action by the school district, the teachers are now taking it to a public protest outside the school on Friday afternoon.

“She mistreated me to the point where I needed to see a psychiatrist for the first time in my then 42 years of life, and he advised me to leave my job for the sake of my health,” Liz Davis, a librarian and school strategist, told the board in January. “I want to stay, but I don’t know that I can.”

CCSD said that school district leadership met with the group that spoke at the meeting.

“While the District cannot discuss individual employee matters, allegations are investigated, and appropriate action is taken per policy and negotiated agreements,” CCSD said in a statement.

But while the teachers said district officials did speak to them afterward, they said there had been no action since.

“This is why we have taken it to this extent,” Danielle Carter, a truancy officer at Chaparral, said.

Neither Keliinoi nor her boss, Principal Kristal Cummings, responded to requests for comment.

“We are here to demand that we be respected and treated with dignity. Ms. Keliinoi does not understand these words. She disrespects us, intimidates us and only treats those few who are in favor. The environment on campus is hostile and unbearable,” Carter said at the meeting.

Harsh punishment

Chaparral High School is a Title I school, which means it receives federal funding due to having a high percentage of low-income students. The school has two stars on Nevada’s five-star rating system.

Its population is 64.5 percent Hispanic, compared with 48.2 percent of the district as a whole, according to state data. It is 19 percent Black, which is above the district’s 15.9 percent population.

Several teachers described racial discrimination in the school, both in treatment of staff and students.

One student, Jayden Boyd, said that he’s heard a white teacher say a racial slur directed at Black people on several occasions.

Other students spoke at Friday’s protest about what they said were inappropriate comments by some teachers and unfair dress code enforcement.

Millis and Boyd also described what they saw as a punitive bathroom policy, in which bathrooms are closed during passing times, and certain students are barred from using the bathroom altogether.

In a statement, CCSD denied the existence of any such policy.

Millis described the racism at the school as systemic and said he has heard several teachers describe the kids as “dumb” and “stupid.”

“If you actually give these kids a chance, you’ll see that they’re good kids. Some of them have been failed by a pretty terrible school system,” he said.

Millis said that Assistant Principal Ron Isaacs said that if anyone disrupted any class in the last three weeks of the semester, they would be suspended for rest of the semester. When it got to final exams, there were five or six students suspended in each class, Millis said. Many of them, he said, were Black boys and girls.

Isaacs did not respond to a request to comment.

Chronic absenteeism, mental health support sidelined

For Carter, who has been in the school district for 13 years, chronic absenteeism is close to home. As a truancy officer, she is responsible for making home visits to students who are absent.

Chaparral has a graduation rate of 77.3 percent and a chronic absenteeism rate of 55.2 percent, according to state data. That’s compared with an 81.5 percent graduation rate and 31.3 chronic absenteeism rate across the district.

Nevada classifies chronic absenteeism as a student missing 10 percent or more of their enrolled school days.

But under Keliinoi’s three-year leadership, Carter said she has been unable to do her job. She has been stationed in the library and has been told to call students instead of making home visits. For her, that renders the job ineffective.

“Nine times out of 10 when I call them out, they’re nowhere to be found. So it’s a waste of time. This is why you need to go out to the homes. You need to check to see where these students are. Are they alive? What’s causing them to not come to school?” Carter said.

Carter also recently found out that she will be surplussed. In CCSD, surplussing is the process in which employees are transferred to another position elsewhere in the district. Keith Stark, the school therapist, is also being surplussed.

“Mental health is important because of the fact that these kids come from different environments: low income, poverty, stress, domestic violence, you name it. When they come to school, they need an outlet,” Carter said.

Carter and Millis both think that the surplusses are being targeted toward those who have spoken out against the school or signed the petition.

The school is also said to be eliminating the one-to-one Chromebook program, which the school told administrators is because of budget constraints.

“Eliminating the one-to-one Chromebook program at Chaparral will deepen the digital divide,” Millis said.

Chromebooks serve a significant purpose for low-income students who may not otherwise have access, as well as for students with learning difficulties.

Mistreatment affects students

Low teacher morale also affects the students, according to several teachers and support staff.

“There’s a culture of fear,” said Scott Johnson, a fifth-year science teacher at Chaparral.

Johnson said that in the years since Kellinoi started, he’s come into school with anxiety that has resulted in hurting the kids.

“How are we going to not have bullying in our schools if we have administrators who are bullies?” Johnson asked the School Board in January.

That low teacher morale, he and others said, led to a significant number of seasoned math teachers leaving Chaparral due to Keliinoi’s leadership. Keliinoi is in charge of overseeing the math department.

One of those departed math teachers, Steven Mond, joined Friday’s protest in support. Mond left Chaparral in spring 2023 along with what he said was the majority of the math department.

“Every interaction was negative. One-on-one meetings felt like a cross examination,” Mond said.

It also showed up in a climate survey taken through the Clark County Education Association teacher’s union. The union said it does not comment on individual school matters.

Davis expressed a similar sentiment.

“Her behavior and leadership style are having a detrimental effect not only on myself, but also on the overall school environment, particularly regarding her relationships with staff and students,” Davis told the board in January.

Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ktfutts on X and @katiefutterman.bsky.social.