West LV schools may lose assistant principals

Terry Webster

Friday, Oct. 19, 2001 | 10:02 a.m.

A predominately black and low-income West Las Vegas neighborhood stands to lose more assistant principal positions than any other area as the Clark County School District makes staffing changes this fall.

Five of 12 schools being looked at for changes in assistant principal staffing are either in, or border, West Las Vegas. The remaining schools are in other neighborhoods.

At this time, officials expect Booker, Madison, Martin Luther King and Carson elementary schools to either lose their assistant principals or to have the positions' hours cut.

The move comes as the district prepares to finalize enrollment figures, which are coming in lower than expected.

It appears the district will fall short of its projected total enrollment by about 500 to 1,000 students, Walt Rulffes, chief financial officer, said. The district planned for its enrollment to grow from about 231,000 to about 246,000 this year.

More belt tightening may be on the way -- several million dollars worth -- if the district's figures hold true and it gets less state aid than anticipated, said Rulffes. The amount of funding Clark County receives is tied to student enrollment.

"This is a little premature," Rulffes said, "But that's what it's looking like."

Final enrollment figures will be released in November.

Meanwhile, principals of the at-risk schools are reluctantly preparing to give up their assistants, as top administrators say it all comes down to numbers.

"We are sympathetic to their needs, but some of these elementary schools have 400 students, while others have 1,300," Augie Orci, deputy superintendent, said.

The district also has 266 schools this year and only 119 assistant principal positions to go around.

Assistants are important, principals say, because they supervise staff and students, assist in writing evaluations and help administer the standardized testing program.

Enrollment isn't the only consideration for elementary schools. The district uses a point scoring system to rank schools based on need. Among the considerations are the number of students who receive free and reduced lunches, level of teacher experience and the number of special education programs.

At the secondary level, placement of assistant principals are based strictly on enrollment figures, officials said.

"We had to make some tough decisions," Rulffes said. "But these types of changes are routine. We've had to make changes with teachers, as well."

Breakdowns on teacher transfers were not available, but Lina Gutierrez, executive director of licensed personnel, said about 79 transfers were made throughout the district.

Still, some educators are still wondering how elementary schools in one of the most impoverished areas could end up on a list for changes in assistant principal positions.

"These are at-risk schools that have always had assistant principals," said Allin Chandler, executive director of the Clark County Association of School Administrators.

"In the past, we have always placed assistants in these schools, regardless. We're very concerned about how the needs of these schools are going to be met."

So are principals.

Booker Principal Beverly Mathis said the loss of her part-time assistant principal is happening at the worst possible time.

"What are our priorities?" she said. "For this to happen in October is shocking. We are in the middle of testing."

Mathis also noted that her school has been on the state's list of those needing improvement, a designation given by TerraNova test score results.

"At Booker, we need to be more proactive," Mathis said. "We are an at-risk school. But I will not allow this to affect the children. Helping children is what we are all about."

Carol Foster, principal of Madison, another at-risk West Las Vegas school, stands to lose a full-time assistant principal.

"It's going to be hard," she said. "I had a male assistant, and he was an important figure for my students because many of them come from single-parent homes. They need more adult role models."

Northeast regional superintendent Marsha Irvin said she is trying to get Madison an assistant principal to share with another school.

"Within the regions, we have some flexibility with how to deal with this," Irvin said.

Orci said officials for schools that are on the district's list for possible changes in regard to assistant principal hours or positions should not panic.

Some may lose a position entirely, while others may end up sharing an assistant principal with another school. They may gain a position or may have no change at all.

Any changes are expected to be finalized next week.