School district to address growth panel

Wednesday, April 21, 2004 | 9:32 a.m.

Clark County School District officials facing the the region's explosive population growth will get a chance to explain the challenges it faces to a new county task force studying the issue.

The school district has been invited to make a presentation to the newly formed Growth Task Force in June, Clark County Manager Thom Reilly said.

Clark County Schools Superintendent Carlos Garcia and Reilly are scheduled to meet May 19 to outline the presentation.

Potential topics for discussion include an ongoing agreement between the district and the county to share facilities and a request by the county for the school district to coordinate its calendar to schedule teacher work days on election days to ensure there are ample polling stations open to the public.

The 17-member task force is made up of civic leaders and citizen representatives. The district was given a spot on the Technical Advisory Committee, which includes public agencies and municipal and state government representatives.

"We had to limit the number of individuals on the task force or else it would have become unwieldy," Reilly said. "The decision was made that the right place for the school district was on the advisory committee."

Garcia said Tuesday he was disappointed no one from the district had been appointed to task force. However, Garcia said, a spot on the advisory committee is still good news.

"We're content to at least have some avenue for a say in all of this," Garcia said. "Up to now what generally happens is people decide to build and nobody tells us and then we have to find schools for all the kids."

The district and the county have developed a strong working relationship when it comes to planning community use projects, Garcia said.

"If they're planning a park and we're planning a school it works out better if we talk to each other and coordinate," Garcia said. "That's what we should be doing all the time."