Assemblyman poised to fight deconsolidation

Valerie Miller

Tuesday, May 2, 2000 | 10:23 a.m.

Assemblyman Wendell Williams says he will fight a petition to break up the Clark County School District if enough signatures are gathered to bring the issue to the 2001 Legislature.

The petition, spearheaded by Assemblywoman Sandra Tiffany, R-Henderson, has already garnered more than 27,000 signatures in support of changing a state law to allow counties to have more than one school district.

As chairman of the Assembly Education Committee, Williams, D-Las Vegas, is in a position to be a powerful foe of the petition.

"I'm opposed to all legislation for deconsolidation," Williams said Monday. "This (breakup) will make the inequities even greater than they are now. This is just taking the easy way out, instead of working to fix what is wrong."

The petition, which needs 44,000 signatures by November, could lead the way for allowing larger cities in Clark County to form their own school districts with neighboring cities. Williams and other critics say deconsolidation will lead to higher taxes and inequality for students.

Williams disagrees with Tiffany's view that smaller districts provide better education.

"She is just assuming that smaller is better, but that's like saying if you have a dirty house, that if it was smaller, you keep it clean. And this would definitely raise taxes."

Williams agrees with Clark County School District Superintendent Brian Cram that breaking up the district would lead to economic disparity.

"Smaller, poorer districts would probably not be able to pay teachers what the folks in Green Valley could," he said, referring to momentum in Henderson to form its own school district with neighboring Boulder city.

Tiffany responded to Williams' comments bluntly.

"Come on, Las Vegas has Summerlin," she said. "That's one of the wealthiest areas there is."

If Tiffany's petition succeeds in changing the state's "one county, one district," law, cities with populations of 125,000 or more could petition to form their own districts with smaller adjacent cities. Henderson, Las Vegas, and North Las Vegas could all qualify under this.

Henderson passed a resolution five years ago supporting deconsolidation.

"I don't see the City Council breaking its commitment to support deconsolidation," Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson said Monday. "We would honor that commitment."

There are problems that exist in the district that must be dealt with, Gibson added.

"We have to address issues such as the number of dropouts and the number of students who don't go on the college because if we don't, we are going to be in trouble," he said.

Tiffany disputes the claim by critics that it is "just a Henderson movement" by saying she receives calls from parents in support of the petition from all over Clark County.

Breaking up the school district would not create unequal districts economically, Tiffany said, because equitable funding for all districts is guaranteed by law.

While the deadline for her petition is in November, Tiffany said she is confident she will reach her goal.

"We expect to have all the signatures much sooner than that," she said.