Teachers call land purchase a waste of school money

By Emily Richmond

Friday, May 10, 2002 | 9:47 a.m.

Simmering tensions over budget cuts, salary negotiations and fiscal priorities bubbled over Thursday between the Clark County School Board and teachers.

A half-dozen teachers, along with the president and vice president of the Clark County Education Association, turned up at the board's meeting and demanded more accountability for the district's spending. The union is currently in arbitration with the School District, hammering out a new contract.

The teachers asked how, in the midst of a $12.6 million budget shortfall that was forcing cuts to middle school athletics and transportation, the board could approve nearly $4.9 million to buy land.

With Board Member Larry Mason the only opposer, the board approved almost $4.9 million for the purchase of 2.8 acres on the east side of Pecos Road, north of Flamingo Road. Dale Scheideman, district director of planning and engineering, said another $3.6 million will be needed for renovations, and about $1.2 million to furnish and equip the facilities.

"The money is not going to the classrooms, and it's the teachers and the students who are in the classrooms," said Tisia Stemp, a kindergarten teacher of four years at Hinman Elementary School in Henderson. "It's an affront when they waste money like this."

The land purchase will be used for a curriculum and professional development center, and consolidate about 150 staff members presently farmed out at sites throughout the valley. The purchase will help the district save substantial amounts on leases, school officials said. The money for the purchase will come from the district's share of the state's Motor Vehicle Privilege Tax, which cannot be used for daily operational expenses or salaries.

Several board members commented that while they agreed the land purchase was the best step in the long run, they were frustrated by the district's inability to offer the teachers' a pay increase.

When the district spends millions on land while at the same time denying teacher pay increases it sends "a terrible message," said Board Member Sheila Barber.

"Our teachers are the most important people in the district," Barber said. "I'm about ready to start a campaign myself and getting some money for these teachers."

Being perceived by teachers as not caring about children is "enormously frustrating," Board Member Susan Brager-Wellman said. The real source of the problem is the district's lack of local control over much of the money it receives from the state and federal government, Brager-Wellman said.