Three school board incumbents win re-election

Terry Webster

Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2000 | 10:45 a.m.

Money matters and student achievement are the top concerns of all of the candidates elected Tuesday to the Clark County School Board.

Three incumbents, Mary Beth Scow, Ruth Johnson and Shirley Barber, and one newcomer, Denise Brodsky, were triumphant in the race to lead the nation's sixth largest school district.

"We need to work on our funding," said board president Scow, who defeated challenger Isaac Farrell in the District A race.

Scow, 47, based her campaign on her concern over increasing student achievement by recruiting excellent teachers and accommodating growth through an aggressive building program.

She also has led the board in its quest to implement Policy Governance, a program that directs how the board operates.

Scow also has said she supports the Community Schools Initiative by Assemblywoman Sandra Tiffany, R-Henderson, which would allow voters to decide whether the school district should be broken into smaller districts.

Johnson, 42, who has stressed the need for more funding from the state Legislature, community involvement and setting clear education goals, defeated Troy Bulloch in the District B race.

In District C, incumbent Shirley Barber, 65, a retired Clark County School District administrator, defeated challenger Beatrice Turner.

Aside from the upcoming legislative session, Barber said she wants to focus on schools that are designated by the Nevada Department of Education as needing improvement.

Brodsky, a School Board newcomer, defeated Jacqueline Jones in the race for the District E seat. Brodsky said her top priorities on the board will be examining the budget and trying to find more ways to get more money into the classroom.

Brodsky, 42, the past president of a local and regional PTA, will take over the District E post being vacated by Lois Tarkanian.