How to offer 100% of graduates a marketable asset

The Clark County School District aims for 100% of graduates to have a marketable asset to ensure every student is military, college or career-ready before leaving high school.

That’s one of the highlights of the district’s new five-year “Destination District” strategic plan, which is the result of more than nine months of collecting feedback from 50,000 students, families and teachers.

“We want every single child to graduate with a marketable asset,” says Superintendent Jhone Ebert.

There’s no reason every student can’t attend college, regardless of their socioeconomic background, she argues. Removing obstacles is the first step.

Nevada State University recently became the first institution to guarantee automatic admission for all Clark County high school seniors. It’s an expansion of a pilot launched in 2024 in partnership with three of the district’s high schools, which led to a 30% increase in students enrolled at the university.

“We have a free and reduced lunch population who sometimes don’t see themselves going to Harvard or Stanford, but they can if we as a school district provide them the understanding they absolutely can, and that we back them with AP courses and dual credit,” Ebert adds.

The district also offers career and technical education and certification opportunities connected to high-demand fields, including HVAC, finance, business management and administration, and hospitality and tourism.

“We’re making sure that every student sees for themselves a path forward into life, and that they have the skills in their tool belt once they graduate,” Ebert says.

Being a visible leader

As superintendent of the nation’s fifth-largest school district, Ebert acknowledges that she can’t be in every school all at once.

On average, it takes Ebert two hours to drive across the district, which spans nearly 8,000 square miles. The district itself serves nearly 300,000 students, employs more than 44,000 staff and operates 374 schools.

Still, she visited 103 buildings during her first year. Each tour revealed to her one recurring theme: everyone wants their students to be successful.

But one of the challenges in leading a large district like Clark County is fact-checking misinformation about the district’s success.

“There was a feeling, depending on which media you subscribe to, that the district isn’t doing as well as it really is,” she explains. Her response is always transparency, taking responsibility for issues and building partnerships to course-correct.

“This work cannot be done alone,” she says. “In public education, especially as we see declining enrollments, we need to work together to lift up our children because they are the economic drivers of our community.”

Her advice to leaders facing similar challenges is to avoid “overpromising” to their communities. Impactful leadership takes time and feedback.

“Sometimes it means putting something in the queue for six months as you gather input, data and resources, and you shouldn’t be afraid to say, ‘That’s not something we can handle,” she says.