Garcia prepares for ‘dirty work’

Thursday, March 13, 2003 | 9:42 a.m.

As Clark County School District officials begin tallying which programs and services won the most support at a series of public meetings on proposed budget cuts, Superintendent Carlos Garcia said he's bracing himself for the "dirty work."

Faced with the possibility of having to make $220 million in cuts over the next two years, the school district has turned to the public for help in deciding what items should be spared. The list includes custodial services, high school sports, hall monitors and elementary arts and music programs.

Flipping through some of the thousands of surveys filled out by students, parents and district staff, Garcia said he has noticed many respondents marked "maintain" or "reduce" next to most of the items listed. The boxes for eliminating programs entirely have gone largely unchecked, Garcia said.

"No one wants to make the horrible decision to wipe out something entirely," Garcia said. "That's the dirty work that unfortunately is going to be left up to us unless we start hearing some good news from Carson City."

The good news, Garcia said, would include lawmakers approving Gov. Kenny Guinn's proposed budget and accompanying tax increases and additions.

"I think people are starting to realize what we're up against," Garcia said.

Even with the public's input the district still faces a daunting task, Garcia said. In the past three years $90 million has been chopped from the district's annual budget of $1.2 billion, which means many departments and programs have already been scraped thin.

"When we talk about making more cuts, we have to remember we're already below acceptable levels when it comes to staffing, program funding, all sorts of areas," said Walt Rulffes, deputy superintendent of operations. "That's what makes this latest round so painful."

There are other considerations, such as the complexities of school staffing. While $10.7 million might sound excessive to some for elementary music programs, the classes give the schools' regular teachers preparatory time during the day, Garcia said.

"One way or another we have to make sure the teachers get time during the day to get ready for their classes," Garcia said. "That's something that could end up costing more money than we could save by cutting the music specialists."

The turnout at the four public meetings -- including an estimated 1,200 people at Green Valley High School on Tuesday -- surpassed expectations, district officials said.

"Rather than complacency, we're seeing people getting personally involved, and we're thrilled about that," said Joyce Haldeman, director of community and government relations for the school district.

The tally of the public surveys should be completed by the end of the month, Haldeman said. In the meantime the district is moving on another prong of its campaign -- an e-mail, telephone and letter blitz of the state's lawmakers.

A "how to" fact sheet being distributed includes addresses for members of the state Senate and Assembly, as well as tips on composing effective messages.

Several lawmakers said they have already seen an increase in messages from constituents about the school crisis since the district public meetings began last week. Shawn Morgan, assistant to Assemblyman Kelvin Atkinson, D-North Las Vegas, said he's received more than two dozen e-mails in the last two days alone.

"That's right up there with calls about the tax bill," Morgan said this morning.

There is another way to reach lawmakers -- the Assembly Education Committee meets Wednesday and Friday afternoons in Carson City, and the hearings are teleconferenced to the Sawyer State Office Building, 555 E. Washington Ave., Las Vegas. Anyone may attend and also sign up to speak during public comment portions of the meetings.