A veteran with ties to a controversial “parents rights” group and an experienced educator who wants to focus on improving communication are competing for one of three open seats on the Clark County School Board.
Lydia Dominguez and Eileen Eady emerged in June as the top two vote-getters in a six-candidate primary for District B, which includes most of the northwest part of the Las Vegas Valley and its northern rim. Dominguez secured 30.4% of votes. Eady secured 24.2%.
District B is currently represented by Trustee Katie Williams, who did not seek reelection and may soon be removed from office for no longer living in the state.
Williams is one of three trustees who opted not to run for reelection this year. A fourth trustee, Board President Evelyn Garcia Morales, is up for reelection. That means a potential shift in power and focus for a board that has seen much criticism in recent years.
Eileen Eady was a special education teacher for 15 years across five different states before leaving the classroom in 2013 to start a daycare and run a consulting business. More recently, she’s worked in state politics, including on campaigns and legislative efforts with Democrats.
Eady believes her experience working at different districts, which ranged from one with just 700 students to CCSD’s more than 300,000, gives her perspective and understanding of the unique needs at the fifth largest school district in the country. Eady sees communication as one of the biggest problems within the district.
“We need to communicate better,” she said. “That’s one thing we need to work on. The teachers don’t feel represented and heard. I think that’s across the board. That’s why we have an insurgence of ‘parents rights’ coded language. That’s coming from parents and families not feeling like they have a voice.”
One of those ‘parents rights’ advocates is her opponent, Dominguez. Dominguez ignored the Current’s requests to schedule an interview but did provide written responses to emailed questions.
Dominguez served in the U.S. Air Force for a decade and authored a book on how to navigate divorce after spousal abuse, according to her campaign website. She also sits on CCSD’s Attendance Zoning Advisory Committee (AZAC).
But the mother of two is best known in education circles as a member of the Clark County chapter of Moms for Liberty. She has also appeared numerous times on Fox News as a former Democrat and Latina who now supports former President Donald Trump.
Both the local and national chapters for Moms for Liberty are known for protesting vaccine mandates, advocating against diversity equity and inclusion policies, and pushing anti-trans narratives. Dominguez on social media routinely shares information about vaccine exemptions and posts about “protecting girls in sports.
Dominguez on Aug. 29 announced she has withdrawn her membership from Moms for Liberty’s Clark County chapter, noting that it means she will be forfeiting the organization’s endorsement. Her statement said the move was “driven by my commitment to maintaining high standards of leadership, transparency, and communication.”
She did not elaborate on how Moms for Liberty is anathema to those values, but added, “I support the national Moms for Liberty organization and their mission to empower parents and advocate for educational excellence.”
Another school board candidate associated with Moms for Liberty, Lorena Biassotti announced on the same day that she too would be withdrawing membership from the local chapter.
The Current asked Dominguez to elaborate on her decision and address criticism that she is attempting to distance herself from the controversial group, whose endorsement may have helped in the crowded primary but hurt during the wider general election. Dominguez did not address the concern and instead reshared her original statement.
She did add, “I want to ensure that I am fully committed to representing all students and families in our community.”
Critics in Nevada and the nation have pushed back hard against Moms for Liberty candidates, arguing their characterization of transgender children as mentally ill and teachers as indoctrinating groomers shows they are not interested in representing all students.
Eady is one of those critics, pointing to higher suicide rates among trans kids and arguing that rhetoric like Dominguez’s “shows we don’t care.”
“We have a lot more issues than the books they think are in our school,” she added, referencing Moms for Liberty’s efforts to remove certain books from school libraries. “We need to come to a place where we’re moving forward.”
She continued, “Why are we focusing on those issues? We have a salary scale we need to fix. We have curriculum that teachers want to talk about. We’ll have a new superintendent.”
Dominguez in her emailed responses said that, if elected, her “top priority is to focus on academic success, school safety, and parental rights.”
“I bring a unique combination of experience as a veteran, a business graduate, and a parent,” Dominguez wrote, referencing her bachelor’s degree in business administration. “I bring a strong sense of discipline, structure, and a results-oriented approach to problem-solving.”
She continued to say her experience “has also equipped me with the skills to lead effectively, especially when it comes to overseeing complex organizations like a school district.”
Eady says that, if she is elected, she’d like to see the district partner with nonprofits to get more parents and community members involved with School Organizational Teams, the advisory boards that are supposed to provide community insight at the school level.
“The intent was to get them more involved,” she said. “Parents don’t know it’s there. Some schools don’t utilize it.”
Eady calls herself “an organizer at heart” who will be open to community feedback and speak up as a trustee. She acknowledged that arguably the most consequential decision that needs to be made by the board — the choosing of the district’s next superintendent — will be made by the sitting board before any new trustees are sworn in. But she believes the new trustees will have a role in making that superintendent successful.
“The relationship between the superintendent and the board isn’t working,” she said. “We need to look at that relationship. We need to fix it. The board has power and they need to execute decisions that are good for the teachers and students.”
Eady has been endorsed by a variety of unions and left-leaning groups, including Nevada State Education Association, Culinary Workers Union Local 226, and AFL-CIO.
Eady had raised $10,286 as of July 15, according to campaign finance reports, and Dominguez had raised $6,610.
