Little area school reshuffling needed

Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2002 | 8:43 a.m.

Just 122 of Clark County's 15,000 teachers have been reassigned because student enrollment fell short of predictions, meaning the impact on students should be minimal, school district officials said Monday.

The 2002-03 enrollment, based on attendance Sept. 20, came to 254,912. That's an increase of 4.2 percent over the previous year, but 3,830 fewer pupils than district officials anticipated.

Projections are devised each spring for the coming school year in order to determine staffing levels and student placement. If the actual numbers differ on "Count Day," teachers and pupils may be reshuffled.

The reassignments are complete and the transitions have been smooth, said Lina Gutierrez, executive director of licensed personnel for the Clark County School District. All of the district's teachers, including the 1,800 new hires, have jobs, Gutierrez said. In fact, additional teachers will likely be added throughout the year as class sizes continue to increase, even after Count Day, Guiterrez said.

The reorganization is done as quickly as possible after count day in order to minimize the impact, said Agustin Orci, deputy superintendent of instruction for the district. While some students may have already developed attachments to particular teachers, the reassignments were made only a month into the school year.

"Kids, particularly the younger ones, are very resilient," Orci said. "We hear from parents occasionally who are upset by changes, but for the most part this is a small bump in the road."

The enrollment figures are also used to calculate state aid, which is apportioned at $3,819 per student. Because of the under-enrollment, the district will get about $14.6 million less than was expected.

The district has already off-set all but $2.7 million of that shortfall by staffing at 98.5 percent of the projected need, according to Walt Rulffes, deputy superintendent of operations. The remaining funds will have to be cut from district programs and or services.

Mary Ella Holloway, president of the Clark County Education Association representing nearly all of the district's teachers, said she hasn't heard much complaining about the post-Count Day reshuffling.

"It's a fact of life here," Holloway said. "We know assignments aren't set until after Count Day."