Candidate challenges regents on scholarship requirement

Tuesday, April 18, 2000 | 11:08 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A candidate for the state Board of Education says disabled students and those with limited ability to speak English are being shortchanged by Gov. Kenny Guinn's Millennium College Scholarship program.

Michelle Trusty-Murphy, an English professor at Western Nevada Community College in Douglas County, said Monday the Board of Regents of the University and Community College System of Nevada overstepped its authority in requiring that students must pass the high school proficiency test to qualify.

Disabled students with individual education plans and students whose ability to speak English is limited are by law exempted from having to take the proficiency test, Trusty-Murphy said.

"This means that the regents' decision specifically discriminates against these minority groups who otherwise would get the Millennium Scholarship because they are Nevada high school graduates," Trusty-Murphy said. "I am sure the regents were not aware of this problem when they passed the policy."

But Dr. Jane Nichols, vice chancellor for academic and student affairs for the university system, said the regents carefully considered the issue. She said there are accommodations to help disabled students pass the proficiency examination.

The regents felt requiring the proficiency examination was the fairest policy, Nichols said, adding, "This is a merit-based award."

But Trusty-Murphy says state law, not the regents, establishes the requirements for the Millennium Scholarships and that nowhere in the law is there any mention of having to pass the proficiency examination.

The scholarship, which provides up to $2,500 a year to a university student, is to give an incentive to students in high school to achieve more, Nichols said. She noted the state Board of Education passed a resolution urging the regents to require passage of the high school proficiency test for those applying for the scholarship.

The proficiency examination requirement, Nichols said, is also in line with the Legislature's goal to raise academic standards in Nevada.

To qualify for the scholarship, the law says, a student must graduate from a Nevada high school with at least a "B" average, have been a state resident for at least two years, and be enrolled in at least 12 semester credit hours in a university or at least six semester credit hours in a community college.

As an example of how it shortchanges certain students, Trusty-Murphy said, many disabled students could go on to vocational education at the community colleges and enjoy the scholarships.

"As it stands right now, thousands of kids (disabled and minority specifically) will be denied the scholarship on the regents' faulty guidelines, and the state will get involved in needless litigation," Trusty-Murphy said.

"I want to prevent embarrassment to the regents, the governor and the Legislature regarding this situation," she said. "I would rather that the money we have set aside go for educating children and not toward paying attorneys' fees."

Trusty-Murphy said she plans to file against education board incumbent Dave Cook of Carson City in District 3, which includes western Nevada counties.