LOOKING IN ON: EDUCATION

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2006 | 7:08 a.m.

The Clark County School Board will spend two days next week reviewing findings from a legislative audit, but Superintendent Walt Rulffes has already taken action on several of the auditor's key recommendations.

The first was creating the position of chief of staff - and choosing longtime district administrator Kathy Foster to fill it.

Auditors suggested the new position, saying it would free the superintendent from some of the more mundane daily duties that come with his office.

Of the nation's largest school districts, most - including the top four New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami-Dade County, Fla. - have chiefs of staff.

Foster has been given "a high level of authority," Rulffes said. There has been another reorganization of his chain of command . The associate superintendents of facilities and technology now report to the district's new chief financial officer, Jeffrey Weiler, not Rulffes.

"I do agree that there were too many people reporting directly to the superintendent," Rulffes said. "It interfered with his ability to conduct the direct mission of his position, because he was so involved in the day-to-day operations."

Nevada Superintendent of Public Instruction Keith Rheault was given a unanimous vote of confidence by the state Board of Education last week, along with a three-year extension on his term.

A 20-year employee of the department, Rheault has served as superintendent since March 2004.

Gary Waters, who leaves the state board at the end of the month after three terms, said Rheault has earned a reputation for responsiveness.

"He's extremely attentive to the needs of the individual school districts," Waters said. "We count on him to be our liaison not just to the education community, but to the state as a whole."

Calling for more transparent accountability, the board has made streamlining the current web of educational committees, councils, advisory boards and task forces a top priority for the upcoming legislative session. Rheault will be an integral part of that, Waters said.

"He knows the current educational infrastructure is not necessarily responsive or accountable to the people expecting education to improve in our state," Waters said.

The Nevada Education Department also needs to look at long-term planning on staffing, Rheault said. It's estimated 40 percent of current employees will be eligible for retirement within five years.

"Unfortunately, I'm not one of them," joked Rheault, 52, who said he would like to spend another six years as state superintendent.

It was a guilty verdict Thursday at Martinez Elementary School - the evil queen was responsible for the murder of Snow White.

In 2004, Martinez became the first district campus to partner with Communities in Schools, a 30-year-old nonprofit organization that provides supplemental health and social services to at-risk students. Thursday's mock trail was part of the campus career club, said Louise Helton, executive director of Communities in Schools of Southern Nevada.

With the help of Herr Law Group's Ismael Stantellan, students portrayed the prosecutor and defense attorney, the judge, the jury and the defendant.

Following the verdict, the "queen" - fifth grader Latiana Fuentes - protested her innocence to Helton and state Sen.-elect Richard "Tick" Segerblom, an employee rights attorney.

"She wanted to blame it on the magic mirror and all those bad influences," Helton said with a laugh.

Segerblom couldn't be reached for comment on whether he would sign on for an appeal.