School board briefs

Friday, March 26, 1999 | 11:22 a.m.

Rancho High School principal Ernie Jauregui will leave Rancho after all. The Clark County School Board on Thursday voted to transfer Jauregui, a 24-year district veteran, making him an administrator at Sunset High School South.

In January a small group of vocal parents and students rushed to the School Board to request that Jauregui remain at Rancho. They said they appreciated Jauregui's concern about Rancho's Hispanic students, who make up roughly 60 percent of the school. Some parents also had complaints about a few of the other administrators at Rancho. At the time, the board agreed to hold off on transferring Jauregui.

But several administrative changes have been made at Rancho since then.

"We've got some good folks in here now, it's a lot stronger team and I think the time is right," Jauregui said today. "Things are going pretty smoothly now."

Jauregui has had some health problems and is ready to take over at a smaller school for awhile, he said.

"I need to do some things to slow down a little bit," he said.

District begins its recruiting season

A new season of teacher recruiting has begun in Clark County, the fastest-growing metropolitan school district in the nation. Among the latest tactics: displaying giant recruiting posters at McCarran International Airport.

District officials say they want to catch the attention of any of the nation's teachers who might pass through the terminals.

"McCarran had 2.5 million visitors through the airport in January," assistant superintendent of human resources George Ann Rice told the School Board Thursday at its regular meeting.

The district will need at least 1,500 new teachers next year to accommodate growth and to fill vacancies left behind by retirees. To meet the demand, the district and UNLV have been working together on an initiative to turn out more teachers in the next few years. District recruiters also plan to visit 43 states, particularly those with shortages of jobs for teachers.

Among other strategies: providing online applications and video conference interviews and recruiting at teacher colleges and universities.

Employee honored for changing coolers

A Clark County Schools employee has been lauded for saving the district about $2.7 million. Thomas Pickrell, the district's mechanical coordinator, has implemented a program to replace air-cooling units that use chloroflurocarbons, or CFCs, at 38 schools. The new equipment is twice as efficient, has already paid for itself in savings and is more environmentally friendly.

Pickrell recently was given the second annual Cashman Good Government Award by the Nevada Taxpayers Association. The Clark County School Board recognized him at its regular meeting Thursday.

Refurbishing plans may be scrapped

The School Board plans to take a hard look at a proposal to stop refurbishing and completely rebuild the district's oldest schools, particularly in West Las Vegas.

The proposal was first floated by board member Shirley Barber, who represents the West Las Vegas area. Now other board members say they want to examine whether the board could use school bond money to tear down old schools and build new ones. They plan to study the issue further at upcoming meetings.

"I could never support rebuilding old schools if we would be putting other children (at crowded schools) on double sessions," board member Mary Beth Scow said.

Several people spoke at the board's regular meeting Thursday, urging members to give West Las Vegas residents the same advantages enjoyed by students in newer areas of the valley.

"The students respect the school more when they have something to show off," said seventh-grader Sharyan Brown, who attends Molasky Middle School, a new school in the northwest.