Elizabeth Smith (Nevada)

I’m a mom, wife, friend, and public servant. I proudly serve as the President of the Washoe County School Board and am the only mother with kids in school on the board. My primary professional industry is Gaming with more than 22 years of experience in marketing, communications, inclusion, and relationships. I was appointed to the Washoe County School Board in 2021 and won a special election in 2022 to keep my seat through the remainder of term. My trustee colleagues recently re-elected me as Board President, and I was named New School Board Trustee of the Year by the Nevada Association of School Boards. I bring passion, tenacity, and exceptional effectiveness in protecting and progressing public education.

• Academic achievement gaps and below-grade-level performance among many student demographics reflects the growing need for academic interventions and more support. To face this challenge head on, I pushed to place more educators at schools for tutoring and individualized help. I helped change the way we review and provide new teacher allocations to classes who gain students mid-year. For the first time, we are now allocating new teachers mid-year so overloaded classes are not forced to finish the school year that way. I also championed reducing class sizes in 4th and 5th grade. We know that high-quality professionals are a key ingredient to academic success so I have successfully fought for 20% raises for teachers and benefits on Day 1.
• Modern education requires a modern approach to recognizing and cultivating brilliance in our kids. I have championed the expansion of Career and Technical Education so students can explore interests and learn through their hands, outside, and beyond seats in a regular classroom. Thanks to this, our students enrolled in CTE classes has grown significantly. For kids interested in higher education, I supported adding Dual College Credit classes, in addition to the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate coursework. And since the fees associated with our CTE and advanced courses were a barrier to students, starting next school year, all those fees have been eliminated. Money should not stand in the way of a child's potential.
• Educational equity in the environments where our kids learn is incredibly important, along with ensuring our kids feel safe and connected. I have been a long-time advocate for rebuilding schools in our older neighborhoods that serve underprivileged communities. All our kids, regardless of their background, deserve to learn in a state-of-the-art building that is warm, dry, and safe. I'm proud we are completely rebuilding many new schools to show our kids we believe in their future. I fought for and achieved campus supervisors at all middle and high schools and significantly expanded school police. I supported WCSD working with the State Legislators and the Governor's office to change laws around student behavior and discipline.

I am personally passionate about advancing and protecting the future of public education by modernizing education; reducing our overreliance on standardized testing; expanding career and technical education; rebuilding schools; paying our team a respectful, living wage; growing Dual Language Learning programs; and expanding support for mental health needs.

My public service is borne from the teachings of Robert Greenleaf and his Servant Leadership approach.

Honesty, servant leadership, commitment to hearing and learning diverse perspectives, finding shared ground, and a willingness to work very hard.

My very first job was as a papergirl from the 5th grade through to my freshman year of high school. Every afternoon following school midweek and on Saturday mornings, I delivered the local newspaper to my neighborhood. It taught me responsibility, customer service, hard work, money management through collecting payments, and the importance of reliability.

Children, families, District team members, and our entire community.

Washoe Education Association
Nevada State Education Association
Washoe School Principals Association
Washoe County School Police Officer’s Association
Washoe Education Support Professionals Association
Washoe Retired Educators Association
Building & Construction Trades of Northern Nevada
Northern Nevada Central Labor Council
Laborers’ Union Local 169
Indivisible Northern Nevada
Washoe Professional Technical Association
Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada Action Fund
Plan Action Fund
Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate 2024
Sierra Nevada REALTOR® Association
Builders Association of Northern Nevada
The Associated General Contractors
Nevada National Organization for Women
Intl Assoc of Heat & Frost Insulators and Allied Workers