Meetings set for new school boundaries

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Monday, Jan. 13, 2003 | 11:12 a.m.

The Clark County Attendance Zone Advisory Commission will hold public meetings to dicuss proposed changes to school attendance zone boundaries for new and existing schools.

6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 13, Coronado High School theater, 1001 Coronado Center Drive, Henderson.

Schools to be discussed

Elementary schools: Frias (new), Hill, Wiener, Bass, Lamping, Glen Taylor (new) , Elise Wolff, Cunningham, Hal Smith and Whitney.

High schools: Coronado High School, Liberty High School (new), Sierra Vista High School and Silverado High School.

6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 14, Sierra Vista High School Theater, 8100 W. Robindale Road, Las Vegas. Schools to be discussed:

Elementary: Alamo, Rogers, Guinn. Middle schools: Canarelli (new), Cashman, Fremont, Orr, Sawyer. High schools: Coronado, Liberty (new), Sierra Vista, Silverado, Bonanza, Clark, Durango.

6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21, Mojave High School theater, 5302 Goldfield St., North Las Vegas.

Schools to be discussed: Elementary -- Bruner, Priest (new), Wilhelm High school -- Centennial, Cheyenne, Mojave, Shadow Ridge (new)

6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 22, Cheyenne High School theater, 3200 W. Alexander Road , North Las Vegas.

Schools to be discussed: Elementary: Bilbray (new), Heckethorn, Rhodes Middle school: Cadwallader (new), Lied, Becker, Brinley, R.O. Gibson, Johnson,Leavitt, Molasky, West High school: Centennial, Cheyenne, Mojave, Shadow Ridge(new)

6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 27, Valley High School theater, 2839 Burnham Ave., Las Vegas.

Schools to be discussed:

Elementary: Dailey/Ward, Paradise, Peterson (new), Rowe, Thomas, Beckley, Cambeiro/Hunt, Crestwood, Earl, Ferron, Gragson, Harris, Hewetson, Hollingsworth(new), Lake, Long, Park, Cunningham, Hal Smith, Whitney.

As the Clark County School Board prepares to redraw its boundary lines to accommodate the latest influx of new students, parents and students will get their first chance to comment on the proposed changes this week and next.

"We're bracing ourselves," said School Board member Susan Brager-Wellman, whose own children and grandchildren have been forced to change schools because of rezoning several times. "No one wants to hear that their kid can't stay where they are, and that makes us the bad guys. The truth is we're trying to do what's best for all of our kids and sometimes that makes these kinds of decisions necessary."

Historically the public input meetings -- when the first round of scenarios are unveiled -- have been contentious. Often the audience breaks down along seniority lines, with residents of older established neighborhoods demanding families in newer housing developments be slated for rezoning first.

"It can get very emotional, yes," School Board President Sheila Moulton said. "But we've made tremendous progress with the whole demeanor of the public input meeting. AZAC (Attendance Zone Advisory Commission) members have been meeting with principals and PTAs for months, encouraging decorum and courtesy."

Each year the district struggles with attendance zoning, drawing and redrawing boundary lines to fill seats in new classrooms while easing overcrowding at existing campuses. The district established the Attendance Zone Advisory Commission in 1994 as a way of giving parents an opportunity to preview proposals and make suggestions before the final changes are voted on by the School Board.

The zoning changes being considered for the 2003-04 academic year would affect students at 10 new schools and 53 existing campuses.

While no zoning decision ever leaves everyone satisfied, public response is typically the most heated when it comes to high school boundaries, AZAC member Carolyn Edwards said.

"High school is usually the time people connect the most strongly to a particular place, those are the reunions they go to later on," Edwards said."The last thing you want to do is have to tell a junior who just ordered their class ring that they'll be going somewhere else for their senior year."

The district will open two new high schools in the fall -- Shadow Ridge in the northwest and Liberty in the southeast. Students will be drawn from high schools in several regions.

Steve McCoy, assistant superintendent for the northeast region, said he expected it to be a smooth transition to the new boundary lines.

"The AZAC members seem to have considered all the things that need to be considered and we expect the rezoning to go smoothly," McCoy said. "The public input meetings are always extremely helpful in clarifying details for the students and their families."

AZAC will hold five public input meetings -- one for each region -- beginning today and continuing through Jan. 22. The Clark County School Board will take action on the zoning changes at meetings Feb. 25 and March 4.