Meeting on school zoning goes unusually smoothly

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2004 | 8:33 a.m.

The Clark County School Board approved attendance boundaries for seven new elementary schools Tuesday in a meeting that may have broken records for both brevity and courteous atmosphere.

"It certainly went very smoothly," School Board President Susan Brager-Wellman said of the hourlong meeting. "I'm glad because we need to save our strength for next week," when the board will turn its attention to new zoning boundaries for high schools. "That's when we really get emotional."

The School Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. March 2 to approve boundaries for three new high schools.

The board not only set zoning boundaries for the new elementary schools but shifted student attendance zones for existing campuses as well. Ultimately 33 schools and more than 28,000 students will be affected.

Dara Goldsmith, a parent at Lummis Elementary School, asked the board not to rezone 139 children from that campus to Staton Elementary School. Both campuses are in the district's northwest region in Summerlin.

Goldsmith said she and her neighbors in The Trails section of Summerlin are upset that their children are being rezoned from their neighborhood school. And Staton is not even the next-closest school, Goldsmith said. Bonner Elementary is actually closer to The Trails than Staton.

"Travel to Staton requires that our children cross two major streets and Summerlin Parkway at Anasazi, which is a freeway off-ramp," Goldsmith said. "That's not safe for pedestrians, let alone children."

Another issue is that some children will be separated from their neighbors for elementary school but then return to their neighborhood school for middle school, Goldsmith said. Students at Staton go to Becker Middle School while Lummis feeds into Sig Rogich Middle School.

But the School Board voted to approve the zoning changes, noting that Lummis is overcrowded and needs relief.

School Board member Denise Brodsky, who met briefly in the hallway with Goldsmith and other parents to discuss their concerns, asked district staff to work to preserve "feeder school alignment" for The Trails neighborhood.

Dave Modica also left the meeting without getting what he wanted. Modica recently married and, when he purchased a new home for his family, he made sure it was within the boundaries of the school his stepson already attended -- Carl Elementary School. With the zoning changes approved Wednesday, Modica's stepson, first grader Kyle, will go to Simmons Elementary School next fall.

To complicate matters further, a new elementary school is slated to open within walking distance of Modica's home in 2006, meaning his stepson will likely be rezoned again to a third elementary school next year.

"I was hoping (the School Board) would just hold off for a year so Kyle wouldn't have to switch twice," Modica said.

School Board members had high praise for the volunteers on the Attendance Zone Advisory Commission, which drew up the recommendations for boundaries after a series of public input meetings.

Buffy Kilarski, chairwoman of the commission, said she was pleased that the elementary school boundaries had been decided with a minimal amount of disruption to existing schools.

"It's never easy, but I think we've done some good work," Kilarski said. "Everyone's worked very hard, especially the (school district) staff."