Crash prompts closing of high school campuses

Monday, May 13, 2002 | 10:53 a.m.

The number of open high school campuses, where students are free to come and go for lunch periods, will be reduced to six this fall, from the current 13, as a result of last week's deadly car wreck.

Las Vegas High School, where five students involved in the crash attended, was among the schools to be closed when the 2002-03 school year begins in August.

Prior to last week's lunch-time car wreck that claimed the lives of seniors Natasha Keeter, 17, and Ashley Troester, 16, Las Vegas High and three other schools -- Cimarron-Memorial, Advanced Technology Academy and Eldorado -- had been scheduled to maintain open campuses next year. They now will be closed.

Four campuses already were scheduled to switch from open to closed campuses -- Bonanza, Coronado, Green Valley and Mojave.

Of the 30 high school campuses in the district, 15 are closed and two others offer special lunch privileges to seniors.

The district said today only six schools will be allowed to maintain open campuses next year. Students at magnet school Community College High, rural schools Indian Springs, Moapa Valley, Laughlin and Indian Springs High and Boulder City High, which does not have a cafeteria, will be allowed to leave during the lunch hour.

Metro Police say Troester, the car's driver, was speeding to make it back to Las Vegas High in time for class. The 1987 Ford Thunderbird veered out of control, striking a light pole before shearing in half.

Passengers Ashley Biersach, 16, was in serious condition this morning, and Kiley Quinn, 15, and Aleisa Valdez, 16, were in fair condition.

"We can never risk children's lives," Superintendent Carlos Garcia said Friday. "All summer we're going to have to figure out how we'll feed everybody, but we'll get it done."

The district's policy has always been that schools needed to apply for a waiver if they wanted to keep campuses open during lunch, Garcia said. On Friday district officials spread the word that existing waivers, except under special circumstances like for rural schools, would no longer be honored.

"Thirty minutes isn't a lot of time for lunch," said Len Paul, superintendent of the district's east region, which includes Las Vegas High. "It's going to be a logistical nightmare to feed and supervise all of these kids who would have otherwise gone off campus, but those are minor inconveniences we're willing to live with."

Las Vegas High Principal Barry Gunderson said he continues to support the concept of open campuses, which he backed six years ago, when the School Board debated closing campuses but voted to allow high schools to decide whether to remain open.

"No, my mind has not changed, but with the emotions being expressed by parents who want the campus to be closed, I will give them what they want and close it," Gunderson said today.

Gunderson, while expressing sorrow for the dead students and condolences to their parents, said, "I do not believe open campuses cause car wrecks."

High school cafeterias serve thousands of students daily, a number that will likely soar once more campuses close, Dan McPartlin, director of food services for the Clark County School District, said.

The district will need to hire more food service workers and purchase more outdoor seating areas and mobile service carts to handle the overflow from the cafeteria, McPartlin said. Ideally the additional lunchtime traffic will help pay for the extra staff and equipment, he said.

The news that the district's high schools would close during the lunch periods came as a relief to Cindy Pellegrini, co-owner of Napoli Pizza on Warm Springs Road next to Green Valley High School. The students loiter outside, smoking and fooling around, which discourages customers, Pellegrini said.

"I wouldn't want to come in here during lunch, with that crowd hanging around," Pellegrini said. "The school district hasn't been real helpful to us with that, so I'll be thrilled if those kids become their problem to deal with from now on."

Mary Ella Holloway, president of the Clark County Education Association, said she had concerns about how the district would pay for the additional food services, and whether the nutritional needs of that many students could realistically be met.

"There's a definite correlation between being well fed and learning," Holloway said.

The School District is already facing $12.6 million in cuts next year to middle school athletics and high school transportation services.

Sun reporter Ed Koch contributed to this report.