Petition to split district clears hurdle

Friday, Oct. 27, 2000 | 11:27 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The initiative petition to allow the breakup of the Clark County School District has cleared another hurdle.

The secretary of state's office said Thursday that the petition, authored by Assemblywoman Sandra Tiffany, R-Henderson, has 60,027 signatures. Only 44,009 names of registered voters were required.

Susan Morandi, deputy secretary of state for elections, ordered the counties to start verifying the signatures to see if they were registered voters.

The law requires that the petition must have 10 percent of the signatures of registered voters in 13 of the 17 counties. The Tiffany initiative qualified in just 13 counties in the raw count.

It did not get enough signatures in Carson City and Douglas, Elko and Washoe counties. The raw count showed it collected 53,168 signatures in Clark County, where only 25,750 were required.

The counties will have nine days to complete the verification process. If the number of signatures in a county is less than 500, all must be verified. In counties where there are more than 500, the counties must take a sample of at least 500 or 5 percent of the signatures, whichever is greater.

Since the petition qualified in only the minimum 13 counties, the margin for error is slim. If only one county clerk in the 13 counties finds there is not enough signatures, the petition fails.

If the petition is found valid, it will be presented to the 2001 Legislature. Lawmakers have 40 days to approve, reject or modify it. If it is not approved, it goes on the 2002 election ballot for all Nevadans to vote on.

Clark County has one of the largest school districts in the nation and critics have claimed a split could bring better education.

If approved at the 2002 statewide election, it would then permit Clark County voters at a later election to decide if the school districts should be divided.

This has been an issue in the Legislature in past years and it has never been approved. Clark County school officials oppose any splintering of the district.