4 teachers in Nevada have educator licenses revoked

A Las Vegas elementary school teacher convicted of distributing child sexual abuse material and a substitute teacher arrested after a student-teacher fight were among the four educators whose licenses were revoked last month.

The State Board of Education revoked the Nevada teaching licenses of Alexander Scott Derringer, Re’Kwon Smith, Jynnell McClellan and Max Ma’afala-Maiava at its July 29 meeting.

Derringer’s revocation stems from his guilty plea to one count of distribution of child pornography in June 2024. Derringer, a former second-grade teacher at Ferron Elementary School, was sentenced to nine years in prison followed by 20 years of supervised release.

Between April and August of 2021, the Department of Justice said, Derringer distributed more than 130 files of child sexual abuse material through two accounts on the messaging app Kik. Authorities said they found more than 2,800 images and videos of child sexual abuse material across two phones that Derringer owned.

Smith, a substitute teacher, was arrested by Clark County School District police in April 2024 in connection with a fight at Valley High School. A student had directed a slur at Smith, who then charged at the student and punched him, according to Smith’s arrest report. The student showed signs of a concussion after the fight.

Smith’s charges were reduced to a disorderly conduct misdemeanor in April 2025 after he took an impulse-control counseling class, stayed out of trouble for three months and had no contact with the student victim, online court records show.

McClellan, a substitute teacher at Legacy High School, was arrested in August 2024 after district police said she possessed a firearm on school property. The gun was found in the school’s parking lot, and McClellan admitted to owning the weapon, district police Lt. Bryan Zink previously said.

McClellan’s case was dismissed in December 2024 after she completed mandated community service and stayed out of trouble, according to online court records.

Ma’afala-Maiava, also a substitute teacher, had his license revoked after his September 2024 guilty plea to a felony count of battery by strangulation and a misdemeanor charge of battery constituting domestic violence. Ma’afala-Maiava was sentenced to between one and a half and four years in prison.