School enrollment misses projection

Terry Webster

Monday, Oct. 25, 1999 | 10:51 a.m.

Building schools is the easy part. Finding teachers to fill them is the challenge the Clark County School District faces as official enrollment figures show a 6.6 percent increase in the student population over last year, Superintendent Brian Cram said.

About 900 more students than projected are in the district this year -- about the enrollment of a year-round elementary school, district spokeswoman Mary Stanley-Larsen said.

The official enrollment is 217,139, according to figures released by the district. In comparison to last year's enrollment of 203,777, the student population grew by more than 13,000 or 6.6 percent.

To help address the growth 10 new buildings are set for construction in the 1999-2000 school year, including four elementary schools, one middle school, three high schools and two alternative schools that were housed in portable classrooms, Sharon Dattoli, a building specialist, said.

"We have to build schools. We know how to do that," Cram said. "The part that scares me is hiring teachers. That's the real gorilla."

This year, Cram said, the district hired more than 1,700 teachers.

"We will continue to hire 1,500 to 2,000 teachers a year, depending on the ups and downs," he said.

Cram is calling for an increase in teaching degree programs through a cooperative effort among the school district, UNLV, the Community College of Southern Nevada and a proposed state college in Henderson.

He also wants more state funding for these programs.

"Some of the bigger districts have unqualified teachers in the classroom," he said. "We can't afford to do that."

Clark County, known as one of the most aggressive teacher recruiters in the country, is now faced with competition from other districts that are offering $5,000 to $20,000 in bonuses for new teachers, Cram said. The district's Demographics, Zoning and Realty Department projected this year's enrollment at 216,237. That was 99 percent accurate, but still 900 students short.

A special computer software program is used to make the projections and includes historical data and enrollment trends. The program also uses calculations for the number of students who will advance to the next grade, those who will be held back and those who will move.

Additional information is gleaned from the Southern Nevada Area Population Projection and Estimation committee, composed of representatives of government, utility companies, UNLV, the Regional Transportation Commission and the state Demographer's Office.