Not by the book

Terry Webster

Saturday, Dec. 9, 2000 | 2:05 a.m.

The glossy new health textbooks in teacher Pat Condron's ninth grade Centennial High School classroom will probably never see the inside of a locker or an overloaded backpack.

These books are here to stay -- in the classroom.

District officials say funding crunches and enrollment surges are restricting textbook usage to classrooms in some schools.

Condron said he supports the use of the classroom sets because it prevents books from being lost or damaged.

"There's about $2,000 worth of books in there," he said, referring to his classroom.

Students can't take the books home to study or complete homework.

And while the Clark County School District spends $11.4 million a year for textbooks and instructional computer software, there aren't enough books to go around.

A state audit will attempt to answer why.

The audit, the first of its kind, was prompted by debates on the availability of books and supplies, spending in those areas and whether textbooks are needed in every class.

About 45 schools -- 10 percent of all Nevada schools -- were studied, legislative auditor Gary Crews said.

State law requires that the audit remain secret until it is released to a committee Thursday. Then it will be handed over to the Legislature for study.

According to Crews, extensive information was gathered during the year it took to complete the audit.

"We don't represent any particular interest," Crews said. "We just let the chips fall where they may."

Assemblywoman Kathy McClain, D-Las Vegas, said she asked for the audit after hearing complaints from parents and teachers during her 1998 re-election campaign.

Questions were raised about why students didn't have books to take home, she said. And parents and teachers complained about having to pay for supplies, such as paper products, that they felt the district should provide.

"When I asked about it, I was told textbooks are not appropriate for some classes," McClain said.

A source told the Sun the audit's sample survey of Clark County schools found that 14 percent of elementary schools and 12 percent of secondary schools lacked enough textbooks.

The audit also reveals that some teachers have spent up to $700 of their own money for supplies.

Problems arise

Principals are in charge of making sure there are enough books and supplies, and they oversee the spending for their schools. If the district's enrollment projections are off, however, problems arise.

That's what happened at Centennial this year. It exceeded its projected enrollment by 300 students, most of them freshmen.

Principal Carol Leavitt had to scramble to order more books.

"It can be unpleasant," she said. "We certainly want every student to have the books they need."

Without textbooks, it's difficult to complete assignments and get help from parents, Centennial ninth graders said.

"In math, we just received enough books," Sena Boyd said. "Before, we were doing our homework in class. I think that's why I got a B in that class. In all of my other classes, I got A's. In English, we don't have books to take home. We do the reading in class, and you feel rushed to finish it."

Some students are asked to use books after school.

"If you make a big deal about it, you can take them home," Katie Courtney said. "And you can go after school and use the book. But that makes you not want to do it."

Missing school makes it hard to catch up in courses that keep books in the classroom, Kyle Mathis said.

"You have to call other people in class and ask them what was covered and what kind of notes they took," he said.

Dovrenee Shaw said her parents find it hard to review homework without a textbook.

"When your parents want to help, they can't," she said. "They can't help if they don't know what you're doing."

School officials say there are legitimate reasons for not having textbooks for every class. For example, computer-based courses or typing classes do not rely on textbooks.

"Generally, the problem is at the secondary level, where they have classroom sets," said J.J. Smith, a spokesman for the Clark County Education Association, the teacher's union.

"Teachers just try to use the textbook more during class," Smith said, adding that the books are just one tool teachers use.

Mendoza Elementary School teacher Greta Peay, a reading specialist, agrees that textbooks are only one teaching resource, but adds that they should be readily available.

Several years ago there was a nationwide movement to de-emphasize textbook use, Peay said.

"There was a concern teachers were just teaching from textbooks," Peay said.

Her reason for wanting more books is simple: Students will read more.

"Reading is everything," Peay said. "If you have an integrated curriculum, you include reading in everything you do."

The district provides well for reading and math textbooks, but needs more science, social studies and health books, she said.

Financing problem

Superintendent Carlos Garcia agrees that the district could use more textbooks. The problem is how to finance them.

School officials say any shortages can be blamed on shrinking state funding and growing student enrollments.

According to district figures, state textbook funding on a per-pupil basis has changed over the past five years. It fell from $51 in 1995 to $37 in 1999. Meanwhile, the district's textbook spending went up from $39 per pupil in 1995 to $51 in 1999.

The $51 per pupil is barely enough to buy a student one new textbook. Prices for high school textbooks average about $60 each and can cost as much as $80.

The value of textbooks averages $221 for a freshman, $265 for a sophomore, $300 for a junior and $229 for a senior, according to figures compiled by Clark High School. For students in advanced-placement or magnet-school programs, the price tags can exceed $300.

If just one or two books are lost, damaged or stolen in each class, it adds up to thousands of dollars, Clark High Assistant Principal Mark Gums said.

Schools can only ask students to pay a fine if books are lost or stolen, Gums said. They can't charge deposits or withhold transcripts or grades for missing books.

Most students return books, but missing books are still a problem, Gums said.

Schools often won't replace textbooks if they are approaching a new purchasing cycle, according to Leonard Paul, assistant superintendent for secondary education.

Social studies books, for example, are on a six- or seven-year replacement cycle, Paul said. If schools are getting ready to buy new books, they will likely work with whatever they have -- no matter that several are missing -- until new ones are ordered.

Math and English books tend to be older because "algebra and grammar don't change," he said.

Paul emphasized that the district's goal is to have textbooks in the hands of all students who need them.

Clark High Principal Wayne Tanaka noted another potential problem with getting textbooks to students.

This year the state began a phase-in process that prevents students from advancing to the next grade unless they have enough credits. It started this year with freshmen, and grade levels will be added each year.

"So far we have been able to keep up," Tanaka said. "But we are in danger when kids who are freshmen don't move up because we still have new students. Then we have to buy more books."

Refuting the audit

Calling it flawed, local school officials are refuting the audit before it is even released.

The rising cost of textbooks is one area included in a report that the district is preparing in response to the state audit.

"I think the report shows we're doing everything we can do," said Sue Daellenbach, a secondary education administrative assistant. "We certainly think there is a shortage of funding for textbooks. But where the law requires us to give books to every student, we are doing that."

Even though the same formula for textbook funding is applied for every school, there are disparities.

In some schools students have two sets of books: one for the classroom and one for home, Daellenbach said.

"It depends on how their enrollment went," she said.

Daellenbach also responded to the audit's finding that teachers spend money out of their own pockets for supplies.

"A lot of that was anecdotal information," she said. "There weren't any receipts or anything."

School officials also said they felt the audit was poking into areas that weren't required by law.

A lot of the information requested by auditors "was not readily available," Crews, the legislative auditor, said. Information on purchasing textbooks or shortages is not compiled on a districtwide basis, officials said. That is left to individual schools.

For Garcia, the issue means trying to find more affordable ways to increase the availability of textbooks and other materials.

"We will probably always have textbooks," Garcia said. "But I've talked with publishers about the possibility of offering books on the Internet. That allows you to always have the most current version.

"But I don't think the public is quite ready for that."

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