Education Notebook: Rebate funds rolling in

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Monday, Dec. 5, 2005 | 8:24 a.m.

Clark County School Board member Susan Brager-Wellman's crusade to turn rebate checks for car registrations into classroom dollars for teachers has yielded $35,549 -- so far.

Seven weeks into the "Rebate to Educate" campaign, the Clark County School District has received a handful of checks from organizations and individuals. One of the largest donations was $14,000 from Sunbelt Communications, owned by university system Chancellor Jim Rogers.

Gov. Kenny Guinn authorized reimbursing Nevadans for $300 million in 2004 vehicle registration fees after tax increases yielded an unexpected windfall.

Brager-Wellman said she's optimistic that more residents will decide to sign over their rebate checks to benefit the public schools. All funds will be divided evenly among the district's more than 300 campuses.

"They've got my $275," Brager-Wellman said.

Larimer's service

After 600 hours of visits to schools and civic groups, warning of the perils of drunken driving, a Henderson teenager serving two years in juvenile detention has completed his community service requirement well ahead of schedule.

Sean Larimer, now 17, was sentenced to two years in custody and community service for the November 2003 wreck that left three of his best friends dead. Larimer, who was behind the wheel of his Pontiac Grand Am, had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit for adults.

Larimer's mother has regularly accompanied him to the presentations as has Rick Poff, whose son Kyle died in the crash. Larimer and Poff both spoke Friday at University Medical Center's "You Drink, You Drive, You Lose" event.

Lisa McGee, spokeswoman for the Clark County Juvenile Justice Services Department, said Larimer has asked to continue his speaking engagements until his release, scheduled for February.

"Each time he speaks (about the crash) it's an emotional experience for him," McGee said. "It's commendable that he's continuing to do it of his own volition."

Oversized high schools

It turns out that Clark County high schools are small -- by one comparison. No local schools cracked the top 20 biggest high schools in the nation, according to 2003-04 data from the National Center for Education Statistics and listed in the Washington Post this week. Clark County's largest high school enrollment is at Las Vegas High School with 3,231 students.

The nation's biggest high schools: Belmont (Los Angeles) -- 5,299 students; Elizabeth (Elizabeth, N.J.) -- 5,299; Fremont (Los Angeles) -- 5,083; South Gate (South Gate, Calif.) -- 5,020; and Roosevelt (Los Angeles) -- 4,940.

Powering up

Nevada Power sent the Clark County School District a check for $270,000 in January 2004, an overdue reimbursement for utilities work the district had carried out in 1998, according to Fred Smith, construction manager for the district.

As reported last week by the Sun, the district is currently owed $54,845 for construction work that benefited utility companies and developers, a sharp drop from the more than $230,000 it was owed two years ago.

Under the terms of a 1998 agreement, the district stood to receive as much as $412,427 in refunds as future developers tapped into its power lines serving Centennial High School. But the deal lapsed without the district receiving -- or apparently requesting -- a dime.

With an improved computer database and renewed commitment to oversight -- both recommendations of an internal audit in the fall of 2003 -- the old agreement was unearthed and the bill sent to Nevada Power.

Even with the improved database it took district officials several days to track down the record of the payment at the request of the Sun.

Interim Superintendent Walt Rulffes said the district has become more efficient at tracking reimbursement and refund agreements. Invoices are sent out promptly and when payment doesn't follow "we go out and start looking for the money," Rulffes said.

The internal audit also determined that the district had incorrectly signed an agreement assigning reimbursement rights to KB Homes, after the builder was paid to complete utilities work at a new school site. Smith said that won't happen again.

"We're making sure those rights come straight to us," Smith said.

Emily Richmond can be reached at 259-8829 or at emily@lasvegassun.com.