Moulton unanimous choice as School Board president

Terry Webster

Friday, Jan. 11, 2002 | 9:17 a.m.

Sheila Moulton will serve this year as president of the Clark County School Board, following a Thursday night vote in which she was the unanimous choice among her peers.

A three-year veteran of the board, Moulton replaces Mary Beth Scow as president. Moulton, who was vice president last year, said she looks forward to continuing to work with the rest of the board to help raise student achievement.

"We (all) work together," she said. "As trustees we do each have an equal voice."

Next in line will be Shirley Barber as vice president. Barber, who had vied for the president post, said she will continue to work hard and would have done so even if she had not been named vice president.

"I'm for the kids," she said. "That's what I'm all about."

In addition, Larry Mason will serve as board clerk.

In other action, the board agreed to upgrade its technology by approving a lease for a fiber optic system for a wide area network with Cox Communications at a cost of $4.5 million a year. The district pays about $3 million a year for its current system, which involves older technology. The new system will use fiber optic technology to connect all school district buildings.

The system, expected to be completed within three years, will be used to provide a classroom telephone and voice mail system for all teachers, security systems and energy management.

Superintendent Carlos Garcia said the district is roughly five years behind other districts in its wide area network technology.

School officials also reported that they are monitoring teacher staffing at Keystone Academy Charter School in Sandy Valley, where two teachers were laid off and another one is expected to resign at the end of this semester. The layoffs come in the midst of financial problems that have left the school struggling to remain open.

The move leaves the academy out of compliance with state laws because only three of six teachers are certified in the areas they are teaching. State law requires 70 percent of the staff to teach subjects in their area of certification.

The district plans to give the school 30 days to draw up a plan. If the issue has not been resolved within another 30 days, the district may move to revoke Keystone's charter. The school is credited with reducing dropout rates in Sandy Valley, where students previously had to spend several hours a day on school buses to get to Las Vegas.