Student panel joins in superintendent search

By Emily Richmond

Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2005 | 9:53 a.m.

Cheyenne High School senior RaQuan Snead said Tuesday while he never met the Clark County School District's former superintendent in person he knew what Carlos Garcia looked like.

"I'd seen him on TV," said Snead, who was elected by his peers Tuesday to be chairman of this year's student advisory committee to the Clark County School Board.

"I would have liked to shake hands with the guy in real life, have him come to my school and say 'Hi.' That's what the next person (hired as superintendent) needs to do."

Garcia resigned from the post in July to take a job as vice president of urban markets for textbook giant McGraw-Hills Co. The School Board hopes to interview candidates this winter and have Garcia's replacement on the job by the start of the 2006-07 academic year.

Snead, along with representatives from 25 of the district's other high schools, shared their views with Kathy Harney and Bob McCord, the consultants hired by the School Board to oversee the search for a new superintendent.

Harney and McCord have been gathering input from a variety of arenas, including the private sector, a community-wide survey and the unions representing the district's teachers, administrators and support employees.

Harney told the students their input was important and that it was only fair that they be asked to share it. Students are told what to wear, what time to come to school and the types of classes they must take to graduate, Harney said.

"It makes sense that we would ask you what type of leadership at the upper level might help you achieve all of the things we ask you to do," Harney said.

"You can sit in the office all day long and get the work done, but what this district needs is someone who's out at the schools, out in the community and really knows the students," said Michael Green, Arbor View High School's representative.

Several students echoed Green's position and said they wanted the next superintendent to be an active presence and an excellent communicator.

When asked what issues they believed were the most pressing for the district, the student responses mirrored those of the community survey: growth, budgetary concerns and quality instruction.

McCord, an assistant professor at UNLV's School of Education, said he was impressed by the scope of the students' remarks.

"They understand the big picture," McCord said. "They said they want more money spent on schools, but they also said they want wise use of funds. There's a sense of responsibility about it."

Several students touched on the issue of teacher quality and said their experiences varied from class to class. Getting students to understand enough of the material to satisfy basic requirements is the main goal for some teachers, said Silverado High School student Lisa Gilbert.

"They say, 'I want you to pass, I want you to pass,' " Gilbert said. "They don't want you to pass with any real knowledge, they just want you to get out of school."

The next superintendent should aim to reduce class sizes, particularly in honors and Advanced Placement courses, the students said.

One school representative said her programming class has 47 students but only 25 computers. Others described the difficulties they had in being motivated by teachers who appeared overwhelmed by the subject matter.

Danielle Weinstein, Basic High School's committee representative, recalled a class in which "Read the book" seemed to be a teacher's only response to difficult questions.

"We need someone who knows what they're talking about, who wants to be there," Weinstein said.

School Board member Susan Brager-Wellman, who observed the discussion, said the students' observations are valuable as the search for a new superintendent progresses.

"They're the focus group in the trenches, they live it and breathe it," Brager-Wellman said.