Wednesday, April 24, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
A consultant studying ways to break up the Clark County School District has unveiled three possibilities for state lawmakers to consider.
* Split along municipal boundaries and set an arbitrary size of 10,000 or 15,000 students. This would ensure separate districts for Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson. Unincorporated areas could be joined to the nearest municipality.
* Break up by School Board trustee districts, which are now roughly composed of 150,000 people, including 24,000 students.
* Divide the district by high school clusters. One or two high schools and all the feeder middle schools and elementary schools would become a district. This would create eight to 10 separate districts.
"Dividing the district into two halves isn't really worth the effort, because you would buy nothing but the grief of deconsolidation," said James Smith of Management Analysis and Planning Associates of Berkeley, Calif.
He said the same of splitting the district into four segments.
The proposals were discussed Tuesday in Las Vegas at a meeting of a Legislative Commission subcommittee. Sen. Jon Porter, R-Boulder City, chairs the committee formed to study reconfiguring Nevada districts. The panel also is looking at the possibility of merging rural districts.
The $300,000 study was approved by the 1995 Legislature. A final report is expected in July.
Critics say CCSD, the nation's 10th largest, is too big to address the specific needs of students. Others say dividing the district will create inequities.
Still, if change isn't part of the solution, "frightened parents and frustrated taxpayers" wouldn't be venting their anguish at Nevada school districts, Porter said.
"If we feel the system is the best it can be and it is prepared for the future, then let's leave it alone," Porter said. "But let's not worry about what's best for the system, and consider what's best for the children, because the organizational structure will follow."
School Board President Jeff Burr spoke in support of the consultant's progress and the committee's open-mindedness.
"I just hope we all can embrace change that will be good for our students," Burr said.
He spoke not as a representative of the School Board, but as part of Citizens for Community Schools, a small group in favor of splitting the district.
Smith also said legislation to create charter schools could be used to split districts by making each school a district unto itself.
There was little response from the 70 people watching the meeting in Las Vegas and via satellite in Carson City. Most said they were waiting for the final recommendations before giving an opinion.
Anthony Snowden of Las Vegas spoke in favor of adding members to the board and was concerned that splitting the district by regions would disadvantage certain areas, such as West Las Vegas.
Smith responded that state law for school funding guarantees that all students receive a minimum funding level.
If the Legislature could construct a method to distribute capital funding for new schools and rehabilitation, Smith said "there would be no such thing as rich and poor districts."
Snowden also wondered how magnet, special education and alternative education schools would be accommodated under a split.
Burr said he was concerned about the prospect of adding more members to the School Board, instead of splitting the district, because it would exacerbate problems. One proposal would add four board members to the seven-member body.
Smith stressed that the consultant will not be deciding how to draw lines, but what to consider when lines are drawn.
"Changing boundaries is the stuff for political debate," he said. "The rest are technical issues and they can be solved."
Proposals for rural Nevada include combining counties such as Storey and Lyon, Humboldt and Pershing, Nye or Esmeralda and Eureka. There also is study of splitting districts in Douglas and Washoe.
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