Charter schools push for final OK

Benjamin Grove

Thursday, April 8, 1999 | 11:17 a.m.

Two proposals to establish the first charter schools in Clark County are speeding their way to approval.

Leaders of two education groups made their pitches Wednesday to the Clark County School Board.

One group wants to establish a school for high school students in isolated Sandy Valley; the other wants to create a school for kindergartners through eighth-graders featuring learning done almost entirely at home on computers.

Leaders of Sandy Valley's Keystone Academy Charter School and the Odyssey Charter School of Nevada already have a nod from the Nevada Department of Education. Now all they need is Clark County School Board approval. Leaders of both groups want to open their schools this fall.

Representatives from the Sandy Valley group said their high school students traditionally have dropped out rather than endure four hours on a bus traveling to and from Las Vegas each day. Dropout rates have been as high as 80 percent in the community of 3,700 residents.

"It's a very difficult way for them to attend high school, and it's too much for most of them," teacher and school organizer James Driscoll said.

The Sandy Valley group's final approval is contingent on the group finding a building.

During the next two weeks, before the School Board's next meeting April 22, board members will be asking for written answers to questions that remain about how the experimental schools would operate.

Charter schools are financed by taxpayer dollars, as are public schools, and are accountable for student achievement. But the schools have the freedom to operate independently of the public school system.

For instance, school leaders can choose different textbooks or follow a unique curriculum that focuses on a certain area, such as science.

Charter schools have blossomed nationwide during the past decade and now number about 1,100 in 34 states, including 271 in neighboring Arizona.

The Nevada Legislature in 1997 cleared the way for charter schools in the state. Only one has been established so far -- a high school for at-risk students in Washoe County.

Three groups, including one that wants to establish a school for the deaf, have emerged in Clark County. Leaders of the proposed Las Vegas Charter School for the Deaf say their application is in its early stages and they plan opening no earlier than next year.

Leaders of the Odyssey school say they hope to have 250 students who want to learn their schoolwork from a computer. Students would meet with a teacher for a minimum one hour per week.

Students and parents could meet as needed at the school's hub, a computer and learning lab in an undetermined location.

Odyssey organizers unveiled an example of the computer software that leads students through thousands of lessons, connects them to the Internet for research and shows them detailed graphics, such as the anatomy of a dissected frog.

"We know some students definitely have more of a propensity to learn with a computer," David Price, principal at Rundle Elementary School, said. Price and Elizabeth Wilhelm Elementary School Principal Vee Wilson have worked on the proposal for five years.

Board members pressed the men on the need for young children to have consistent supervision beyond a computer screen.

"I think in our society we need to have high-tech and high-touch," School Board member Lois Tarkanian said. "You certainly have the high-tech. I'm concerned about the high-touch."

The men agreed that parents would have to carefully monitor the learning at home. They said they would pursue grant money to buy computers for students who couldn't afford them.

Board members also asked whether students would get any interaction with other children.

"We don't have all the answers on that," Wilson said, adding that they wanted to encourage social events with community groups.

Organizers of Keystone Academy would fill a niche desperately needed in Sandy Valley, about 50 miles southwest of Las Vegas. Students traditionally have been awake as early as 4 a.m. to get ready for a bus ride to Durango High School.

Sandy Valley leaders also want to focus on a science-heavy curriculum that focuses on the environment and mining.

"I am a big proponent of getting out of the classroom and seeing life," said Christine Meier, a science teacher at Basic High School and part of the group pushing for the charter school. Being in the classroom "is not the same as seeing an animal scurry across the desert."

"We live in a laboratory out there," Driscoll added.

Sandy Valley resident Dawn Haviland has been working on the school proposal for two years.

"Between you and us, we can make this work," she told the board.

Board members seemed impressed.

"This is an exciting endeavor," board member Susan Brager said. "I hope it comes to fruition."