Playground architectural flaw will cost taxpayers $200,000

Teresa Hinds

Friday, Sept. 12, 1997 | 10:08 a.m.

The Clark County School District has made a mistake that will cost taxpayers more than $200,000.

A flaw in the architectural drawings for the playground at Wolfe Elementary School was not caught by the civil engineer, staff at the school district, or by the construction management firm of Parsons-Fleming-Taylor.

The flaw resulted in a slope that is dangerous and "way too steep," according to one district official.

Now the playground has to be reconfigured and re-sodded to the tune of $204,275.93. The School Board approved the contract award to Grand Canyon Construction without discussion at its Thursday meeting.

Fred Smith, assistant superintendent for facilities, called the blunder a "screw-up."

"It was a combination of a design flaw and a communication problem," Smith said. "What came out was not what was intended."

Smith explained the topography of the land at Wolfe is not flat so some sort of slope on the playground was needed. He said the mistake made in the architect's general design drawings should have been caught by either the civil engineer or review staff at the school district or PFT.

"I don't want to lay blame on any one person, because we're all to blame," Smith said.

New service center

Parents who have children going to schools in the Green Valley, Henderson and Boulder City areas will soon be able to conduct school district business closer to home.

The School Board unanimously agreed on Thursday to establish a 4,485-square-foot area service center in the Green Valley Commerce Center at 12 Commerce Center Drive in Henderson. The office space will cost about $193,000 to renovate and furnish.

The center, which will be modeled after the pilot area service center on East Charleston Boulevard, will house area superintendents for elementary and secondary education, a representative from student support services and School Board member Mary Beth Scow, who represents that area.

Scow said she plans on polling parents to see what services they are most interested in receiving from the center. She said early feedback shows parents want computer classes, parenting classes and a central meeting place for area PTA's and parent councils.

Scow, who would like to see the center named the Area Family Center, said it is scheduled to open the first of next year.

School zoning

The 1997-98 school year is less than a month old, but members of the school district's zoning commission are already mapping out attendance zones for next school year.

With five new elementary schools and the relocation of Paradise Elementary to the UNLV campus, plus three middle schools scheduled to open at the beginning of next school year, the 15-member commission will be busy with recommendations for redrawing attendance boundaries for the more than 200 schools in the district.

The Attendance Zone Advisory Commission, or AZAC, recommendations must be forwarded to the superintendent by Feb. 2. A School Board meeting will be held on Feb. 19 to vote on the commission's recommendations.

AZAC meetings are held from 9 a.m. to noon each Tuesday in the board room of the Education Center, 2832 E. Flamingo Road, except for the 6-9 p.m. meetings on Sept. 30 and Oct. 28. The commission is working to establish a monthly evening meeting schedule to accommodate the public that cannot attend daytime meetings.

Educator honored

R. Guild Gray, the first superintendent of the Clark County School District, has been named Nevada Retired Educator of the Year.

The honor, given to Gray during a four-day celebration of the National Retired Teachers Association in San Diego, was made in conjunction with the association's 50th anniversary. Gray was honored along with one retired educators from each state for their contributions to education.

Gray, who has an elementary school named after him, was also honored as Distinguished Educator and Humanist in 1992 by the Nevada Humanities Committee, and Distinguished Nevadan in 1991 by the University of Nevada System Regents.

He retired in 1984 from his position as director and senior vice president of the financial consulting firm of Burrows, Smith and Co. Since then he has published an historical novel and a book of inspirational poems and photographs.

Computer donation

Fifty-seven personal computers were recently delivered to Chaparral High School because of a donation made by a local technology service company.

Michada made the donation to the Clark County Public Education Foundation, which in turn distributed the computers to the high school. Michada representative Jeff Ames said the 57 computers delivered Wednesday are the first installment of 1,300 computers the company intends to donate to the foundation for distribution to other schools in the district.