Picking new leader tops agenda for School Board

Benjamin Grove

Tuesday, April 20, 1999 | 12:05 p.m.

The search for a new schools chief is at the top of the Clark County School Board's to-do list this year.

Also foremost on the minds of school officials: managing a multibillion-dollar school construction program at a time of explosive growth, trying to teach a growing population of Spanish-speaking and special education students and coaxing more parents into classrooms.

Clark County School Board President Ruth Johnson was expected to discuss those topics today during the annual State of the District address.

"No one on the planet is doing what Clark County is doing," Johnson said before her speech at the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce.

"No one is responding to growth the way Clark County is. No one else is opening 10 schools a year."

Johnson planned to again outline the district's 1998 construction initiative, fueled by $3.5 billion in property tax, real estate tax and hotel room tax money. Officials plan to build 88 new schools and complete $854 million in renovations at older schools during the next 10 years.

Johnson also planned to offer residents a snapshot of the more than 200,000 students in Clark County's 227 schools this year, which includes an ever-increasing population of special education students.

About 11 percent of the district's students are enrolled in special education programs, according to the district's accountability report. Special education students, ranging from students with learning disabilities to students who need a full-time nurse, cost the district about $140 million a year.

About 10 percent are enrolled in classes for students who are not native English speakers.

"A lot of people know their school, but sometimes they lose sight of the population of the district as a whole," Johnson said.

Johnson also said the search is on for someone to replace Superintendent Brian Cram, who will retire in July 2000.

The district has appointed a seven-member committee to oversee the search.

Recently, the committee has urged lawmakers to change a law that would restrict the district from hiring anyone who is not licensed as an administrator in Nevada.

The committee wants to open the search to noneducators, such as military and corporate leaders.

Others say the next superintendent should be an educator such as Cram, a former high school principal.