County opposes school choice bill

Monday, March 5, 2001 | 11:35 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Clark County School District stood alone Friday in opposing a bill before a Senate committee allowing school choice.

Dusty Dickens, director of demographics, zoning and realty for the school district, told the Senate Human Resources and Facilities Committee that students have 12 options for variances to permit them to switch schools. About 18,000 students in the district attend classes outside their zone.

"The Clark County School District already provides for choice," Dickens said in testifying against Senate Bill 149.

SB 149 would allow a parent to apply to the local school board to allow a child to attend classes out of the zone, if the prospective school has space. If more students apply to go to a school than space will allow, the school board would make a random selection of which students would be chosen.

Proponents of the bill argue it would get parents involved in their children's education by allowing them a choice on schools.

Dickens got support from Sen. Valerie Wiener, D-Las Vegas, who noted her district includes inner-city schools. Wiener said many parents in her district are not committed to a specific school. The bill does not allow for transportation of students who want to switch schools, meaning parents would have to drive them or find another way.

"This is not a choice for inner-city kids," Wiener said.

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Maurice Washington, R-Sparks, who complained the present variance system is closed, and his measure would open the process to all families. Only a selected few now get variances, he said.

"I'm not trying to destroy the school system," Washington said. His bill passed the Senate in 1999 but died in the Assembly.

Lucille Lusk, of Nevada Concerned Citizens, said parents have a stronger commitment to a school if they are allowed to choose. "Things work better," she told the committee, which did not take a vote.

Janine Hansen, president of Eagle Forum, agreed that giving parents the option to choose schools increases their involvement "as well as meet the needs of children." She said a given school might have academic programs or extracurricular activities that a student or parent favors.

The bill would allow school boards to set conditions on students' behavior at the new school and require they maintain a certain grade point average.

Dickens said the measure could mean that those with higher grades would be clustered in one school while the less academically talented would be in another school. In addition, she said, there would be different grade point standards in some schools, with transferring students having to achieve a different grade average than regular students.

She also said this choice option could cause problems in the fast-growing Clark County district, and it could raise questions of civil rights in the distribution of minority students.

A random selection process, Dickens said, might mean that some families with good reasons for seeking a variance could be left out.