Students back in class: Nearly 300,000 strong

By Emily Richmond

Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005 | 10:54 a.m.

Armed with a new pencil, box of crayons, two glue sticks and a grin full of confidence, 6-year-old Saphyre Vandruff appeared more than prepared Monday for first grade at the new Hickey Elementary School.

"I was ready yesterday," said Saphyre, who waited with her mother outside the North Hollywood Avenue campus off East Lake Mead Boulevard. "I'm excited. P.E. and art, those are my two favorite things."

Saphyre is one of more than 295,000 students expected for the new academic year. That's an increase of about 5 percent and cements Clark County's position as the nation's fifth-largest school district.

The district opened 10 new schools Monday; an 11th campus, Thiriot Elementary School, had construction delays and will open Sept. 19.

Two of the new campuses, Jeffers and Ries elementary schools, opened using portable generators after work by Nevada Power wasn't completed in time, said Fred Smith, construction manager for the district.

While it's not unusual for power lines to be finished late at new campuses, this is the first time the generators have been in use for the actual first day of classes at a new school, Smith said.

Mark Shank, Nevada Power's executive over the Las Vegas area, said Jeffers should have full power sometime this week. The delay was the result of a re-design earlier in the construction process of some of the facility locations, Shank said.

And Reis should be off the generators in the next 30 days or so, Shank said. At that campus, located on Lindell Road in the district's southwest region, the power company and the School District struggled to get the necessary easements to put lines across private property, Shank said.

"Land rights issues can really complicate a job," Shank said. "Most of those obstacles have been cleared and we expect to get them (the school) taken care of."

Agustin Orci, interim co-superintendent of the district, visited several new campuses Monday including Reis. He said he was pleased to find traffic moving smoothly as parents dropped off students. The interior of the building was pleasantly cool, Orci said.

"I wanted to check for myself," Orci said, referring to the fact that the school was operating on generators.

Other new schools also needed some finishing touches. Work crews were busy at Arbor View High School finishing the artificial turf on the athletic fields and Bailey Middle School's library had stacks of books that still needed to be organized on shelves.

At the new Mack Middle School, located on Karen Avenue near Lamb Boulevard and Boulder Highway, the traffic lights were operating on generators, but the school's main power source was up and running, said Principal Joseph Murphy.

Mack has one of the highest proportions of new teachers of any of the new schools, with 17 members out of a total faculty of 70.

"When you're in a district that's still short hundreds of teachers, I'll take 17 new ones any day," Murphy said.

As of Monday there were about 350 out of an original 2,250 teacher vacancies still to fill, said Lina Gutierrez, executive director of licensed personnel for the district. That number is somewhat higher than last week's figures because additional retirements, leave of absence requests and resignations have filtered in, Gutierrez said.

That's about the same number of vacancies as in past years, Gutierrez said. The district will continue hiring for the 2005-06 academic year through February, replacing long-term substitutes with full-time teachers.

The new arrivals at Mack include English teacher Leslie Tiratira, who left behind her husband and their two children in the Philippines in order to teach in Clark County. Tiratira is one of about 50 teachers recruited from abroad for special three-year contracts, a move the district said was necessary to fill a record number of vacancies.

"I wanted the opportunity to teach other kids in another culture," said Tiratira, who has been a teacher for almost 15 years. "It will help me a lot when I go back to the Philippines."

Also new to Mack -- and the Clark County School District -- is band director Meredith McCombs. A graduate of the University of Illinois, McCombs had first applied to work in Clark County last year, but there were no openings. She was working as a youth counselor aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines' Spirit of America in the winter when she re-applied.

"We were passing the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor when I checked my voice mail and found out I had a job," McCombs said. "It was incredibly exciting and very memorable."

At schools with high numbers of new teachers, like Mack, the district tries to balance the faculty with veterans to serve as mentors, Orci said. Mack was also allotted two assistant principals instead of the single position it typically would have had given the student enrollment, Orci said.

"We're going to do everything we can to support our new teachers," Orci said. "We are very, very glad they are here."

Mack opened with about 1,500 students, slightly under its capacity of 1,700. The blacktop area outside has already been pre-wired for as many as eight portable classrooms.

"I hope we don't have a need for those this year," Murphy said. "But in the Clark County School District you deal with whatever comes your way."

Ron Despenza, transportation director for the district, said the first day of school brought the usual crowds of students at bus stops who had failed to register in advance. The district transported an estimated 100,000 students Monday: pre-registration topped out at 57,800.

The unexpected passengers, along with a shortage of bus drivers, meant students at 12 middle schools and three high schools had to wait as long as an hour Monday for a ride home. Drivers delivered one bus full of students and then doubled back for a second load, said Nancy Cardenas, the district's routing and scheduling specialist for the regular campuses.

At ribbon-cuttings across the Las Vegas Valley, school namesakes turned out to welcome students for the first day of classes. Former State Board of Education member Liliam Lujan Hickey was on hand to welcome students to the new elementary school that bears her name and urged parents to be as involved as possible in their children's education.

"Help us make this the best school in the state," said Hickey, the first Hispanic woman elected to the state education board. "And not just because it's mine."

Staff Sgt. Yolanda High-Miller, who is currently stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, said she was impressed with the Hickey campus on North Hollywood Boulevard in northeast Las Vegas, where her daughter will attend second grade.

"It's beautiful, they did a beautiful job," High-Miller said, who added that the commute from her on-base housing to the school is about five minutes. "Everything is bright and clean."

High-Miller, who just returned from a six-month tour of duty in Kuwait, said she was grateful not to miss her daughter's first day of school.

"I don't know who's more exited, me or her," High-Miller said.

Also at Hickey was Clark County School Board member Sheila Moulton, who said she has yet to tire of the annual first-day rituals.

"To have beautiful new schools for our children to go to because taxpayers said education is important, what could be better?" Moulton said.