Union takes issue with panel

By Emily Richmond

Monday, Nov. 21, 2005 | 8:26 a.m.

The union representing Clark County's school administrators wants the chief executives who make up the Council for a Better Nevada to mind their own business.

The council, made up of 19 chief executives of local companies and corporations, has launched its own search for the School District's next superintendent. Committee members say promising candidates will be encouraged to apply to the School Board, which will ultimately make the final selection. University system Chancellor Jim Rogers, a committee member and owner of Sunbelt Communications, has vowed to raise enough money to ensure that the superintendent's annual salary tops $400,000.

In the latest issue of the union's in-house publication "The Unifer," the Clark County Association of School Administrators and Professional-Technical Employees take issue with the council's involvement.

"By working outside of the official selection process, does this group of business people believe they can make demands or expectations of the new superintendent, especially if the superintendent is one of the candidates they recruited and approved?" the union's leadership asks.

"If an outside group enhances the superintendent's salary, what then will the group's expectations be of the new superintendent and who who will the superintendent be accountable to?"

The union also expressed displeasure that the consultants hired by the School Board to conduct the official search -- former district administrators Bob McCord and Kathy Harney -- had met with the council. That only burnished the outside group's credibility, the union complains.

"We look to the Board as our elected representatives to ensure that the activities of Mr. Rogers and his business associates have no more influence the selection of the new superintendent than any other members of the community," the union concludes.

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When it comes to community service, Cimarron-Memorial High School teacher Gary Kaempfer teaches his students to give until it hurts -- literally.

Kaempfer, a 30-year classroom veteran who chairs the social science department, has helped his students organize a blood drive for each of the last four years, setting records for participation.

At his induction into the Clark County School District's Education Hall of Fame on Thursday, Kaempfer was recognized for his willingness to serve as a mentor and adviser outside of the traditional classroom setting.

Also inducted were: Vanderburg Elementary School teacher Susan Berry; Jane Kadoich, the district's director of guidance and counseling, who will retire after 30 years; Larry Moses, a retired administrator who was central to the construction and opening of Moapa Valley High School; Yolanda Ramirez, whose volunteer efforts at Robert Taylor Elementary School have helped turnout at family literacy nights grow from a small group of parents to crowds of 200 or more; Dode Worsham, director of leadership development for the School District; and Linda Young, who established a transitional program for students with learning disabilities to help them move successfully from high school to post-secondary education.

Two programs at Clark High School, the Academy of Finance and the Teacher Education Academy, also have joined the Hall of Fame.

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The School District will hit the half century mark in March 2006, and officials want a new logo to usher in the next 50 years.

The "lamp of learning" logo has been in use since the district's early days. Five years ago, then-superintendent Carlos Garcia added the "A+" symbol as part of his educational initiatives.

The competition to design a new logo, announced at a community meeting Saturday, is open to everyone -- including students, parents and district employees. The deadline is Jan. 18 and application information can be found at wwww.ccsd.net.

The School Board will choose a winner from five finalists and unveil the new logo March 3. In the meantime, district employees are being urged to use up their business cards that bear the old logos.

Emily Richmond can be reached at 259-8829 or at [email protected].