There’s a difference between being in a position to succeed and succeeding. That’s the position Clark County School District Superintendent Jhone Ebert is currently in.

Ms. Ebert inherited enormous challenges when she took over the district in April. For years, the district has struggled to put a permanent teacher in every classroom. In-school violence is a problem at many schools.

There hadn’t been labor peace either. The Clark County Education Association had called for former Superintendent Jesus Jara to leave his post. At the start of the 2023-24 school year, teachers staged illegal sickouts. Those moves were part of a very contentious salary negotiation.

Many of those things look much better now. As of this writing, the district is looking for 352 teachers and other licensed positions. That’s a large number, but it’s much smaller than it has been in past years. It had more than 1,000 teacher vacancies at the start of the last school year. It’s important to note that a major key to reducing the number of vacancies was an improved retention rate. Also, teacher raises were much more modest this year than in the previous contract. That also suggests that throwing money around was an inefficient way to address this problem.

The district’s misguided focus on racial disparities in school discipline predated Mr. Jara’s tenure. His push to reduce suspensions and expulsions, even if student behavior merited it, contributed to an explosion of violence. Later in his tenure, Mr. Jara made overtures about the need to punish students. In its new teacher contract, the district agreed to have supervisors tell teachers what steps they have taken after learning about a dangerous situation. That’s a positive step.

In an interview, Ms. Ebert affirmed that principals have full authority to suspend and expel students based on their behavior without concern for racial demographics.

“My staff knows health and safety (is) No. 1 in everything we do,” she said. “I think they’re actually tired of hearing me say that.”

Even the district’s negotiations with CCEA and its combative executive director, John Vellardita, went smoothly. The union accepted a contract with modest pay and benefit increases. It even includes additional pay for teachers at Title I schools with high vacancy rates. One might remember that during Mr. Jara’s tenure, the union had a meltdown when principals at low-performing schools attempted to offer retention bonuses.

Unfortunately, Ms. Ebert has little direct control over how negotiations look two years from now. They could be especially fraught because last session, Gov. Joe Lombardo signed Senate Bill 161. It legalized rolling sickouts at individual schools. Previously, those were defined as a strike and were illegal. But for the next two years, there should be labor peace.

Ms. Ebert has guided the district to a good position. But the district doesn’t exist merely to keep students safe at school and hand out modest pay raises to adults. Students need to learn.

This is where the real challenge lies. Less than 40 percent of third graders were proficient in reading during the 2023-24 school year. Math proficiency among eighth graders was 21.8 percent.

Ms. Ebert appears ready to move forward. One positive idea is to ensure better compliance with the district’s cell phone pouch policy.

“We’re working with all of the teachers, all of the principals to make sure that it’s implemented consistently,” she said.

She also wants more “workforce readiness and preparedness” opportunities in all high schools. Some students do better with hands-on instruction.

“Every single high school student should have access to that career pathway,” she said.

One area of concern is her support for expanding pre-K. That hasn’t worked either in Nevada or around the country. Students need better instruction in elementary schools, not more time spent in a subpar environment.

Ms. Ebert has been hard at work, but the real work is just beginning. She should remember that you can’t fix a broken system by keeping every adult inside it happy.