Three seats up for grabs on state panel

Benjamin Grove

Thursday, Oct. 22, 1998 | 12:09 p.m.

Teacher and Nevada Board of Education candidate Priscilla Rocha has been busy lately at heavily Hispanic Halle Hewetson Elementary School.

Rocha, 51, is one of five candidates on the Nov. 3 ballot from Clark County who are seeking three open seats on the 11-member board.

Rocha recently launched an after-school program for Spanish-speaking students who are struggling in the classroom at her school.

"We have a high percentage of Hispanic dropouts, and we need to address that," said Rocha, a fourth-grade bilingual-education teacher.

Rocha also said the state board of education needs to focus more on its bilingual-education program and develop more consistent rules about transitioning students to English. Rocha said students who enter school in kindergarten speaking Spanish should be speaking and learning in English at least by the beginning of fifth grade.

"Bilingual education is a bad word right now because of what is happening in California," Rocha said. "We are not keeping them in Spanish. We teach them in Spanish and transition them to English."

Rocha faces incumbent Islena Giron, for the District 2, Subdistrict E seat.

In the District 2, Subdistrict B race, real-estate appraiser Pamela Kroeber, 51, is looking to unseat incumbent Gary Waters, a Clark County School District administrator who arranges professional development for teachers.

Kroeber said she supports more music education, standardized testing in all grades and state-mandated school uniforms in kindergarten through eighth grade.

"Studies show uniforms cut down on crime, attendance goes up and all sorts of wonderful things start happening," Kroeber said.

Waters, 49, said his priorities in a second term include more dropout prevention and improving teacher recruitment and retaining teachers once they get to Nevada.

He said he supports the recent launch of "Z-squared," an anti-guns in schools program sponsored by county police agencies. Waters said more work must be done to make schools safe.

Waters also said the board should continue to strive for more fiscal accountability.

"I want people to know what they get for the money they are spending on education," Waters said.

Incumbent Jan Biggerstaff, who holds the District 2, Subdistrict C, seat is running unopposed.