Incumbent faces challenge from newcomer

Teresa Hinds

Wednesday, Oct. 30, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

The top vote-getter in the September primary for School Board District C thinks her margin of victory will be even larger in the Nov. 5 election.

Shirley Barber, who is challenging incumbent James McMillan to represent the area that covers portions of central, west and northwest Las Vegas, won the right to go on to the general election by capturing 13 percent more votes than McMillan.

"I certainly think the margin will be even greater," she said. "I've been walking the district and am very active in the community on a grass-roots level.

"I'm very involved and am letting parents know my goals and my concerns. I feel it must make a difference."

McMillan, on the other hand, thinks the traditionally higher voter turnout for the general election will work in his favor. Only 24.9 percent of the county's registered voters turned out for the primary election.

"We will have a good race in the general. Probably a lot more people will come to the polls to vote. I think it's possible I may be able to pull it off," McMillan countered.

Both claim experience is their greatest asset.

The 79-year-old McMillan said his three years on the School Board is an advantage because he has become familiar with the workings of the policy-setting body.

But Barber said her 28 years with the Clark County School District as a teacher and administrator gives her the relevant experience.

"With my background as an educator, I certainly know what the needs and priorities are. I deal with it day after day after day," she said.

"District C needs to change, and it needs someone who knows what's going on in the field of education. I can offer something to make a difference," Barber added.

Barber is the principal of Fitzgerald Elementary School in West Las Vegas, a position she will retire from in December. She has a master's degree in education from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.

McMillan received a bachelor's degree in pre-med from the University of Detroit and a doctorate in dental surgery from Meharry Medical and Dental College in Nashville, Tenn. He has been a dentist in Las Vegas since 1955.

School overcrowding and double sessions, the high dropout rate and moving toward teaching the basics are issues McMillan and Barber are both addressing in their campaigns.

Re-garding overcrowding, McMillan said there is "nothing I can do except try to get the building program in shape and get the schools built for the 1994 bond issue.

"We're opening two elementary schools the first of the year and one middle school and one high school next year also," he said.

Work on the 1994 school bond construction program has been accelerated and all construction, modernization and rehab is expected to be completed by 1988.

"We're going to have to come up with a comprehensive plan to see if we can get alternative funding, starting with the Legislature," said Barber. "We need their support. Maybe they can even help us come up with the plan."

McMillan also sees approaching the Legislature for school construction funding as a necessity.

"We need to talk to the state and see if we can get some money from them," he said. "We're going to be 10,000 seats short even if the (1996) bond issue passes."

McMillan sits on the ad hoc committee to address the School District's dropout rate and said he is working to get the graduation requirement dropped from 22 1 /2 credits to 20 credits.

"I feel that will give students a chance to take other courses to graduate" when they fall behind, he said.

"We're trying to catch these kids in junior high school. We should have free summer school so we can catch these kids up that can't read, write or do math, so they don't drop out," said McMillan.

He advocates a combination of whole language and phonics to teach reading skills. "We want to make sure the curriculum is good so third grade students will be able to read and do mathematics."

Barber also supports teaching phonics and favors tailoring the teaching style to individual student learning styles.

"If you can't read, you can't do anything," she said. "We must exhaust all means and teach these kids how to read and teach them math and survival skills. And they must learn how to write complete sentences."

While McMillan acknowledges problems in the School District, he also sees a lot of good.

"I think the School District is doing a terrific job," he said. "We have a lot of youngsters that come out of high school that are A No. 1, so I don't look on the school system as gloomily as other people do.

"Maybe I'm wrong, but I see a lot of good things."