Washoe Country School District

May 22, 2013

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Meet the Trustees

The Washoe County School District Board of Trustees is an elected board of seven members. Five members are elected from geographical districts. Two members are elected as at-large. All members serve four-year terms.  Please continue reading to "meet your Board of Trustees."


Barbara Clark, President

Barbara Clark

District C (click for map)
(North Valleys, Northern half of Sun Valley, and Spanish Springs)

(775) 972-9244
Email: bclark@washoeschools.net

Term Expires 2014

Barbara Clark has been an advocate for parent involvement and public K-12 education during the last 15 years. She was one of the originators of Nevada's first Parent Involvement Summit, “Connecting the Dots,” in March 2006. She served as president of the Nevada State Parent Teacher Association (PTA) from 2001-2003 and was Nevada PTA's lead lobbyist from 1995 to 2005.
 

Before being elected to the WCSD Board of Trustees, Trustee Clark was chairperson of the WCSD Parent Involvement Council and PTA representative on WCSD's budget technical team and financial advisory committee. She also served on a number of state and district committees for issues such as accountability, bullying, high school overcrowding, year-round schools and various educational programs. Trustee Clark also served six years on the Stead Neighborhood Advisory Board.
 

Trustee Clark has a B.A. from the University of California, San Diego and a J.D. from Western State University School of Law, San Diego. She has two grown sons and when she is not focusing on education in Washoe County, she is working at the National Automobile Museum (The Harrah Collection) in downtown Reno.

Dave Aiazzi, Vice President

District E (click for map)
(Northeast Reno, Northwest Reno, Verdi, Mogul)

(775) 747-7711
Email: dave@washoeschools.net

Term Expires 2016

Trustee Dave Aiazzi is a native Renoite and graduated from Sparks High School. As the Vice President, Aiazzi wants to take what he has learned while serving as Reno's City Councilman for the last 16 years to help Washoe County School District.

In this capacity, he served as the past chairman for the City of Reno's Regional Planning Governing Board and the Regional Transportation Commission. As Vice Chairman of the Truckee Meadows Water Authority, he is working to get a permanent funding source for Truckee River.
 
As a Trustee, Aiazzi is interested in supporting WCSD with regional planning and help with structural improvements for the District's older facilities. He is also very involved with the arts community in Reno, serving on the boards of ArtTown and the Black Rock Arts Foundation.
 
He and his wife, who he has been married to for 38 years, enjoy spending time investing in artwork produced by budding artists. Aiazzi is proud to say he is a father of two grown children and a grandfather of three grandchildren.

Lisa Ruggerio, Clerk

District A (click for map)
(South, Southwest, Including Incline Village)

(775) 527-0199
Email: lruggerio@washoeschools.net

Term Expires 2016

Having dedicated the last 20 years to improving education in Washoe County, Clerk Lisa Ruggerio looks forward to working with the Board of Trustees to accomplish the goals laid out in the strategic plan, Envision WCSD 2015 - Investing In our Future.

Trustee Ruggerio, a native Nevadan and a product of WCSD schools, is the president and owner of LR2 Consulting - a management consulting firm that specializes in community and statewide strategic initiatives. A graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno, certified advanced mediator and national safe schools trainer, she has been passionately involved in the community and neighborhoods her entire life.

She has served on numerous boards and commissions including The Chamber, Ward Three NAB, and Nevada Women's Fund. She is the past chair of Leadership Reno Sparks, and a graduate of the Washoe County Medical Society's Internship program.

As a Trustee, Ruggerio is committed to ensuring that every classroom has a highly skilled teacher and supporting parent engagement. In her spare time, she enjoys beautiful Lake Tahoe, hiking, kayaking, and biking with friends and family.


 

Estela Gutierrez, Member

Estela Gutierrez

District F (At Large) (click for map)
(Eastern Part of Washoe County from Spanish Springs to Geiger Grade)

(775) 813-6605
Email: egutierrez@washoeschools.net

Term Expires 2014

Education is a passion for Trustee Estela Gutierrez. As a long-time Sparks resident, she has been involved in education for 22 years. In addition to serving on the Board of Trustees, she works at Truckee Meadows Community College as the Dean of student services. She is also the co-founder of the Mariposa Dual Language Academy in Reno.

 
Trustee Gutierrez was sworn into the board on Sept. 9, 2008 and served as the Board President in 2010. As a Trustee, she believes that education is the passport to our children’s future and that we must get all children to graduation.
 
Trustee Gutierrez is also the founder of the first Latino Leadership program, founder of the Latina Professional Development Program for Nevada Hispanic Services, National Hispanic Professional Organization and Latino Lions. Her other community involvement includes: past member of Sparks Citizens Advisory Board, Truckee Meadows Tomorrow, 2005 chair of Accentuate the Positive, Theater Coalition, State ESL Task Force, past member of Girls Scouts Advisory, past member of the Sparks City Charter Committee, Irish Mexican Alliance of Nevada, Leadership Reno Sparks Advisory, Nevada Military Support Alliance, member of the Nevada State Board of Education for Displaced Homemakers, Nevada Parent Teacher Association, Nevada School Board Association and Nevada liaison to the Mexican government.
 
During her free time, Trustee Gutierrez enjoys walking, hiking, camping and spending time with family.


John R Mayer, Member

District B (click for map)
(Sparks, Including the South half of Sun Valley)

(775) 355-0182
Email: jmayer@washoeschools.net

Term Expires 2014

 

John Mayer began serving as a Trustee in January 2011. He has been a lifelong resident of Sparks, where he has been highly involved in different aspects of the community, including public education.
 
Trustee Mayer retired from the WCSD in 2000 after serving as a teacher, coach and principal.
 
He also served as the Sparks City Councilman for Ward 1 for more than 17 ½ years and has represented the City of Sparks on the Regional Transportation Commission. Trustee Mayer’s community involvement includes serving on the boards for both the Sparks Heritage Museum and Disabilities Resources.
 
As a Trustee, John Mayer’s interests include ensuring transparency in all areas of the school district. Trustee Mayer would like to make it possible for all students to obtain tools to make their dreams come
true.
 

Barbara L. McLaury, Member

Barbara L. McLaury


District G (At Large)
 (click for map)
(West Half of Washoe County from Cold Springs to Washoe Valley)

(775) 787-7125
Email: bmclaury@washoeschools.net  

Term Expires 2012

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Dr. Barbara McLaury’s entire career has been focused on education and creating opportunities for the children of Northern Nevada. Before becoming a Trustee, she worked for 34 years in the WCSD as a teacher, reading coordinator K-12, principal and senior director. She retired from the District in 2008.

As a member of the Board of Trustees, Dr. McLaury’s particular areas of interest are recruitment and retention of effective teachers and administrators, equity and diversity, student achievement and accountability. In the current economic climate, Trustee McLaury believes that it is important that the Board keeps its focus on what’s best for all students.

Dr. McLaury has been a resident of Washoe County since 1961. She attended the University of Nevada, Reno where she earned several degrees in education, including her B.A. Elementary Education (1974), M.Ed. Educational Administration & Higher Education (1977) and Ed.D. Curriculum & Instruction..
 


Howard Rosenberg, Member

District D (click for map)
(Southeast Reno, Old Southwest Reno)

(775) 825-1399
Email: hrosenberg@washoeschools.net

Term Expires 2016

 

As a long-term UNR Professor, Trustee Howard Rosenberg has a passion for education. As a Trustee, Professor Rosenberg is interested in the areas of instructional leadership and curriculum. Having extensive experience teaching public schools in the East Coast and in Hawaii, and having taught as a UNR Professor for over 46 years, Trustee Rosenberg has trained generations of student teachers in art education and has been a professor in the UNR art department since 1967.

At UNR, he is responsible for Visual Foundations, Survey of Art History, Film Studies, and the Art Education classes. He was elected to the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents in 1996 and 2002 before stepping down in 2008.

Every summer from 1957-1986, Rosenberg served as a civilian employee of the U.S. Army's Music and Theater Program, adding a film component to this programming and traveling with the World Wide Army Command. In his spare time, he enjoys watching movies and finding ways to connect with his undergraduate UNR students.

 


Maria Toca-Ruiz
Student Representative to the Board of Trustees

Maria Toca-Ruiz is the 2012-2013 Student Representative to the Board of Trustees. As this year’s student representative and senior at Galena High School, Maria has the important job of representing the student voice for Washoe County School District and making important recommendations to the Board of Trustees at their regular board meetings. Maria is a first generation Mexican-American who is proud of her heritage. She believes her background contributes greatly to the person who she is today. When she and her family moved to the United States, she became passionate about embracing diversity in her community. She loves being able to connect people through their differences so that they could learn from one another.

Maria is actively involved at Galena High School, as a leader on student council, the commissioner of students in charge of school assemblies, and playing on the lacrosse team. Maria sets her goals high and believes that every success is only achieved through hard work and perseverance. The quote by Colin Powell resonates strongly for her: "A dream does not become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” As a goal-driven individual, Maria has already set her goal on pursuing a Ph.D. in psychology, which she has planned on pursuing since the sixth grade.
 


 For questions regarding "Board of Trustee" issues contact:
    Board of Trustees
    Lisa McNeill, Executive Cabinet Assistant
    P.O.Box 30425
    Reno NV, 89520-3425
    Phone: (775) 348-0399
    Fax: (775) 348-0304
    e-mail: boardmembers@washoeschools.net

Return to the Main Board of Trustees webpage