Lawmakers view school service center

Thursday, March 13, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

State legislators said they are impressed with a new facility the Clark County School District hopes will bring it closer to parents and students.

The Assembly Education Committee met Wednesday at the district's first Area Service Center, which has been in operation at 4546 E. Charleston Blvd. since January but opened officially on Tuesday.

The center will act as a clearinghouse of school information and services, provide immunizations, and serve as a meeting place for district committees. It also will serve as the office for area superintendents Marsha Irvin (elementary grades) and Steve McCoy (secondary grades). There also are computers for parent and student use, a family lending library, and screening for second-language services.

"This center was built on the assumption that if we build it they will come," Superintendent Brian Cram told the committee. "We're going to see people that might, in the past, have been reluctant to talk to us. I'm convinced the end result is that we will get closer to our clients."

General school funds were used to appropriate $130,000 for rehabilitation of the offices in the shopping plaza that houses the center. The annual lease of the 3,900-square-foot center also is expected to run about $30,000. But the district was fortunate to have received about $240,000 worth of donated computers, software and installation from IBM.

Cram said the district would like to establish at least three more area centers throughout the Las Vegas Valley, perhaps with the help of state funds. The next center is tentatively scheduled for the western area of Las Vegas.

Assemblyman Wendell Wil-liams, D-Las Vegas, who chairs the education committee, said he is convinced his legislative colleagues would free up funds for additional centers this session if the money is available.

"The members of this committee and others I have talked to support this concept," Williams said.

Irvin told the committee about a parent and child who came to the center to use its dictionary because they didn't have one at home. Before the hearing, Irvin said, "the whole purpose of this was to bring administrators closer to the schools they administer."

The center is open to the public weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., and can be contacted at 799-2127. It serves residents in areas represented by School Board members Ruth Johnson in District B, Larry Mason in District D, and Judy Witt in District G.