New panel for schools meets for first time

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Thursday, Sept. 29, 2005 | 10:14 a.m.

Gov. Kenny Guinn on Wednesday told his nine appointees to the first-ever Commission on Educational Excellence that they have the "awesome responsibility" of determining how $78 million in state funds be awarded to schools in need.

"It's up to you," Guinn said in his welcome address to the commission at the Sawyer State Office Building in Las Vegas.

"It's not up to the legislature, it's not up to the governor or the Department of Education. You are the decision-makers and you are the front-line responders. I'm going to trust you to put it where it should go."

Guinn also reminded the commission members that they'll have to justify their choices to the 2007 Legislature.

"I wish that we could have done this four years ago, so if it failed I would be totally responsible for it," said Guinn, who steps down next year after two terms.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act required states to set achievement goals for school performance, with 100 percent of students demonstrating proficiency in reading, writing and mathematics by the 2013-14 academic year.

Schools that fail to show adequate yearly progress for two consecutive years are identified as needing improvement and face sanctions. Those schools also become eligible for extra federal funds for remedial programs and services.

State law allows the governor to appoint eight of the nine commission members -- three teachers, two principals, two school district administrators and one parent of a public school pupil. The state superintendent of public instruction is the ninth member.

"What a rare opportunity you have given the members of this committee," George Ann Rice, associate superintendent of human resources for the Clark County School District and the commission's chairwoman, told Guinn. "We will do our best to fulfill your expectations."

During the 2005 Legislature lawmakers and education advocates wrangled over everything from the commission's composition to whether the $100 million should be limited to elementary education programs, as Guinn initially proposed.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, successfully fought for an amendment allowing the monies for innovative programs serving all grades. The Legislature also earmarked $22 million to pay for full-day kindergarten classes in at-risk schools.

Some Democrats -- including Giunchigliani and Sen. Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas -- suggested the state Board of Education was the appropriate body to oversee the allocations.

Gary Waters, member and immediate past president of the Board of Education, told the Sun on Wednesday that he believed the newly formed commission was an unnecessary duplication of effort.

Schools that do not meet benchmarks for student performance are already required to submit improvement plans to the state Education Department, Waters said.

And it was the state Education Board, in conjunction with the Legislature, that set the "adequate yearly progress" requirements that schools must meet, Waters said.

"It seems wiser to consolidate the policymaking and the funding allocation responsibilities in the same body," Waters said. "When you have multiple boards existing in a climate of dysfunction, you lose accountability."

Following his address to the commission, Guinn said the members were chosen for their experience as "first responders" who have been directly involved in the day-to-day workings of public education.

"These are bright people," Guinn said. "They've seen first-hand what works and what doesn't work."

Schools and districts will submit applications for funding by December. For the first year of the biennium the commission will award $50 million to K-6 programs and $6.8 million for grades 7-12. Limits have also been set on how large of a share each of the 17 school districts may receive. The grants will run for 18 months.

In addition to Rice and Keith Rheault, the state superintendent, the members of the Commission on Educational Excellence are: Max Brown, teacher at Fay Herron Elementary School; Chanda Cook, Clark County parent; Pete Hall, principal of Anderson Elementary School in Reno; Roger Jacks, principal of Desert Pines High School; Caroline McIntosh, assistant superintendent in White Pine County School District; Adriano Ocampo, teacher at Sandy Miller Elementary School; and Bernice Servilican, teacher at Damonte Ranch High School in Reno.