Search to begin for Brodsky’s replacement

Friday, Aug. 5, 2005 | 9:23 a.m.

The search for candidates interested in replacing Denise Brodsky as the District E representative to the Clark County School Board will officially begin next week.

Brodsky, who was elected to a second term in November, announced her resignation last month and her final School Board meeting was Thursday. She plans to move to Louisiana to take a job as executive director of the United Way of St. Charles Parish near New Orleans.

An announcement of the School Board vacancy will be advertised on Monday and on Aug. 14 in local publications, said Jaime Lea, spokeswoman for the district. The applications will be accepted for about a 30-day window.

At the end of that time the School Board will hold public interviews of all interested candidates.

Per state statute, the remaining six members of the School Board will choose her replacement in a public vote. The board's pick will serve until the next county general election in September 2006. Whoever wins that election will serve the remainder of Brodsky's four-year term which runs through 2008.

Applicants must reside within the boundaries of District E and be registered voters. The School Board application will ask candidates whether they or a member of their immediately family or household are employed by a public entity.

Immediately following the announcement of her resignation Brodsky identified Terri Janison, a leader of her parent action committee, as her first choice of a replacement. Janison, the wife of KLAS-TV Channel 8 senior meteorologist Kevin Janison, has also been active in community organizations that have fought successfully for limits on junk food sales to students. Brodsky said earlier this week that she did not plan to campaign for any candidates or make an official endorsement.

"I plan to stay out of it and leave the process up to my capable colleagues," Brodsky said.

Retired substitute teacher Frank Albano, who ran against Brodsky on the primary ballot in June 2004, has also expressed interest in the position.

In an earlier interview with the Sun Brodsky praised Albano for his work on the Attendance Zone Advisory Commission, to which she appointed him.

Mortgage broker Ryan Devins, a father of two district students who finished second to Brodsky in the general election, told the Sun he was also considering applying for the job.

School Board members are paid $80 per meeting. The School Board sets policy for the nation's fifth-largest district, which has an operating budget of $1.7 billion annually.

Interested candidates will be able to print the application from the district's Web site at www.ccsd.net or pick up copies at the Greer Education Center, 2382 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas. The application will include the geographic boundaries of District E.

In other action Thursday, the School Board approved setting up a committee to encourage members of the public to donate their car registration rebate checks to the district. School Board member Susan Brager-Wellman, who initiated the proposal, said any funds received would be given directly to schools to pay for small improvements or special projects.