Nolan unseats Rocha as Waters, Boylan win

By Emily Richmond

Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2002 | 9:46 a.m.

In a surprise result, retired Clark County special education teacher Dorothy Nolan unseated Priscilla Rocha for a spot on the state Board of Education Tuesday, with incumbent Gary Waters and newcomer Patrick Boylan also winning their races.

Nolan finished with 59.7 percent of the vote to Rocha's 40.3 percent.

Nolan, 70, said was "proud and humbled" to have been elected to the 11-member, nonpartisan panel. A basic writing instructor at Community College of Southern Nevada, Nolan said she wanted to see the board raise education standards statewide.

"We shouldn't be embarrassed when we compare what we're doing for our students with the standards set by other states," Nolan said.

Nolan, who spent less than $100 on her campaign, said for the past year she has been attending the state board's meetings and familiarizing herself with the issues.

"I've done my homework," Nolan said. "I'm looking forward to serving."

Waters, a 10-year employee of the state's Division of Human Resources and director of Nova Southeastern University, was re-elected to a third term on the board. He defeated children's book author Roger "Oz" Baum with 64 percent of the vote.

Waters said he wants to see the state increase its per-pupil funding. He also supports more services for students in at-risk communities.

Waters said he was impressed when he visited one of Clark County's six 21st Century Community Learning Centers, a federally funded program that provides on-campus tutoring, field trips and mentoring.

"I saw kids engaged, involved and excited about learning," Waters said. "Every child in the state should have access to to those kinds of resources."

Boylan, a college instructor, beat claims adjuster Albert Ochoa with 53 percent of the vote. Boylan will replace current board member Jan Biggerstaff, who chose not to run again.

Boylan, 50, has pushed for improved accountability at both the state and local levels.

"Our children are the leaders of tomorrow," Boylan said. "Let's give them the very best education now."

Ochoa, 24, sought to improve the state's vocational programs along with classroom technology.