Columnist Susan Snyder: Issues are more than kids’ play

Monday, March 1, 2004 | 8:17 a.m.

The showdown brewing in Austin is one for the books -- namely, schoolbooks and where to put Austin students while they use them.

A 6-year-old battle over whether to close the town's historic elementary school and move its 13 pupils to the building now shared by 40 middle and high school students erupts for the third time March 10.

Members of Lander County School District's Board of Trustees voted to move the pupils in 2001. But the Nevada Board of Education overturned the decision after Austin residents appealed.

Some oppose placing elementary school children with older kids unless the two populations are kept entirely separate.

Others fear that closing the Austin school -- the town's first state historic site and its first National Register of Historic Places landmark -- will mean its eventual death. Re-opening it would call for thousands of dollars of restoration work so the building will meet modern codes.

And lurking at the back of this battleground is an information-only item on the March 10 meeting agenda to explore the idea of busing Austin's high school students to Eureka -- 90 miles one way, over two mountain passes.

Residents fear they are poised to lose more than a home team and historic building.

"Every time they bring up this issue, we lose kids. Parents flee the community," said Ray Williams III, an Austin native and school district trustee. "The last time they brought it up, we lost six families. The first time they brought it up, we lost 10."

Those who stayed have lost patience, said Val Anderson, an Austin middle school teacher who was working at the elementary school when she hired a lawyer to fight the 2001 decision.

"We've hung onto everything, but little by little every year, they've taken away a little more," Anderson said. "We have to fight for everything we get."

Steve Larsgaard, interim Lander County school superintendent, said the decision is tough. But the district's budget has been declining for four years.

"We have 13 kids in a facility of 7,500 square feet. You need to wonder if that's the best use of your resources," Larsgaard said.

Williams attended Austin Elementary School. He said the two-story building encompasses 10,000 square feet in its 12 classrooms. It once housed all students through 12th grade. Older and younger children were separated by floors. The newer secondary school building is smaller and not divided as well, he said.

"We can just barely squeeze in there right now," Williams said. "I feel a better option is to mothball the new building and send everyone back to the old school."

We build 12 schools a year in Clark County. It's hard to relate to the debate's numbers, let alone its heartache.

When the decision is past, those on both sides still must face each other in the market, in church and the coffee shop. A battle over 13 students can divide a community deeper than one over 13,000.

"There are bad feelings on both sides every time we address this issue," Williams said. "After the last one, a woman stood over in the corner crying. That's hurt feelings."