Teens buck school board to visit Strip museums

Judy Odierna

Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2003 | 11:10 a.m.

A group of Utah teens whose trip to Las Vegas was nixed by school board members last year arrived here Tuesday afternoon and were welcomed by Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman.

"This is what we really wanted to see," said Teri Tree, 17, a Springville High School senior.

"It's the only opportunity we'll really have to see this," added Karina Ellsworth, a 15-year-old sophomore.

They weren't referring to casino lights or to the mayor putting out the welcome mat. The students came to Las Vegas to see paintings by some of the masters and to see Faberge eggs.

Their Nebo School Board had nixed a trip to Las Vegas to see "Faberge: Treasures of the Kremlin" at the Bellagio and the "Art Through the Ages: Masterpieces of Painting From Titian to Picasso" at The Venetian, partly because the exhibits were at casinos.

So some of the students' parents decided to pay for the trip themselves.

More than 100 students from five Utah high schools made the trip with their parents.

"When this little adventure was conceived, it was simply to allow our students the missed opportunity to see two art exhibits," said Paul McSweeney, father of one of the students. "These exhibits are of such quality and rarity that we couldn't pass this up. Unfortunately, an extremely small segment of our community that included some members of our school board didn't feel the same way."

Teacher Bev Burdett, who was trying to arrange the trip, said the board wouldn't approve the trip because some members were uncomfortable sending students to Las Vegas.

"We were specifically told that Las Vegas was not the kind of place we want our students to be visiting," she said.

But Lana Hiskey, spokewoman for the Nebo School Board, said the board encouraged parents to take their kids on their own to see the exhibit.

She said the board never promoted any anti-Las Vegas sentiment while denying a school-sponsored trip.

"We're a little frustrated because the media has not told the real story about what has happened at all," Hiskey said.

Hiskey said Burdett in September originally requested two trips. One was to take 100 students studying Russian and art history to Portland, Ore., and Seattle. The other request was for a trip to Las Vegas.

"It's unusual for us to grant two field trips," Hiskey said. "We usually do one per group. At the meeting one member of the board said the board should support the Oregon trip rather than the Vegas trip because the Vegas museums are housed in a casino. There was really no other discussion."

Burdett, who said that only the Las Vegas trip request should have been submitted and that the other one was sent in accidentally, tried a second time to get the trip approved.

The board did not take any action on the item the second time, saying they had already made up their mind about it.

A third proposal was submitted soon after, changing the trip to San Diego with a stop in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas part was nixed again.

The students went to San Diego without the stop in Las Vegas on Jan. 10 instead of Portland.

"We feel horribly that Las Vegas has been offended," Hiskey said. "But the comments were not coming from our school board."

Hiskey said because Las Vegas is closer, the board recommended parents taking their kids who were interested in seeing the exhibits at the Bellagio and Venetian on their own.

But Burdett said Hiskey is misrepresenting the facts and that the district officials now are backtracking as a result of the bad publicity and criticism they received.

"We explained over and over that they would not be entering a casino and that casino owners don't allow underage kids inside casinos," Burdett said.

When he greeted the parents and their students Tuesday, Goodman asked: "When (are school board) elections next year? I'm thinking of moving up there and replacing someone.

"They tried to make Las Vegans feel like second-class citizens. It's a very narrow-minded fearful attitude that they didn't want to expose you to other wonderful events. Congratulations to the parents who were able to stand up to that."