Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Board remains divided

NEW YORK - Clark County School Board members say their fact-finding trip to the home district of New York educator Eric Nadelstern did not change any minds about whom to support for schools superintendent.

As of late Tuesday, the board appeared divided over the central issue in the deliberations: The degree to which the district needs reform.

Nadelstern is seen as an agent of change, pushing for weaker central administration and more autonomy for Clark County schools. His vision assumes greater involvement by parents than has been true in the Las Vegas Valley.

Interim superintendent Walt Rulffes is a veteran Clark County school executive. He stands for stability and for continuity in approaches to meeting the district's unique challenges, which include a highly transient population.

Two board members who last week supported Rulffes apparently remained in his corner. The one who favored Nadelstern said she still does so after seeing Nadelstern in his element for two days.

Of the other four, one leans toward Nadelstern and three aren't saying whom they prefer.

But Nadelstern received strongly favorable reviews from among 11 Las Vegas community, political and business leaders who also ventured to New York this week.

The group came at the invitation of a Las Vegas business coalition that recruited Nadelstern, Citizens for a Better Nevada, and it is expected to lobby the School Board in the days leading up to a final decision, which could come Friday.

As School Board members and the group headed home Tuesday evening, the choice seemed very much in doubt.

Terri Janison, an early supporter of Nadelstern during candidate interviews in Las Vegas, said the trip reinforced her opinion that he is a stellar educator and a powerful advocate for reform.

"I haven't changed my mind," Janison said Tuesday. "If anything I'm more certain."

School Board President Ruth Johnson and Vice President Sheila Moulton, who were in New York last week, have indicated that they prefer the stability offered by Rulffes, who spent seven years as the district's chief financial officer before becoming interim superintendent.

Nadelstern has no experience supervising a full school district and lacks a background in budgeting, Moulton said. Nadelstern oversees the New York schools' "Autonomy Zone," an 18-month-old pilot program that allows schools more flexibility in hiring, curriculum and instruction as well as more budgetary control. Nadelstern is also New York City's chief academic officer for new schools.

Of the other four Clark County School Board members, Susan Brager-Wellman suggested last week that she favored Nadelstern. The other three have revealed little.

Mary Beth Scow said Tuesday that she had "pretty much made my decision." But she wouldn't disclose it.

"My mind is wide open," Larry Mason said. But he said that he was impressed by what he'd seen in the New York schools. "I can say there are plenty of innovative ideas going on here that we should be considering seriously for Clark County."

Shirley Barber has not indicated whom she favors. She and Brager-Wellman did not go to New York. They stayed in Clark County to look more closely at Rulffes.

Board members say they have been speaking with community leaders and district employees as they weigh the two candidates. But Tuesday, in the interest of fairness, they closed one door to outsiders.

At the request of Janison, Scow and Mason, the Citizens for a Better Nevada contingent canceled plans to sit in as the board members discussed Nadelstern with New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein.

Janison said the board members asked the group to skip the meeting after they learned that the president of Clark County's teachers' union, which supports Rulffes, had been barred from Klein's meeting with Johnson and Moulton last week.

"In the interest of fairness, it was the right thing to do," Janison said. A Las Vegas Sun reporter was denied access to both meetings with Klein.

In addition to touring campuses, School Board members met with education officials, union representatives and leaders of community organizations.

Nadelstern said Tuesday that he was glad the School Board members had the opportunity to "have real images to go along with my words of what may be possible in Clark County."

Melodee Wilcox, PTA president at Cox Elementary School in Henderson, was among 11 people in the group. While she learned more about Nadelstern during the trip, she said she wasn't qualified to make a judgment on whether he was the best choice for superintendent.

"I don't know the other individual (Rulffes) that well, so I don't think I can make a fair comparison," Wilcox said.

Sen. Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, who joined the tour with his wife, said he believes Clark County needs Nadelstern.

"If I were a School Board member, I would vote for the types of innovation and active learning that they're experiencing in New York City," Horsford said. "You need someone with the background in developing a culture of support, where students can learn and teachers can teach."

Horsford added that he regarded Rulffes' financial experience as valuable.

"As far as the finances of the district go, the bond program and new school construction, all of that is very important," Horsford said. "But for the fifth-largest school district in the country, the decision that has to be made is who will do the most overall to support real academic achievement. I think we're seeing that person here."

While community supporters of each candidate have lobbied board members fiercely, Mason noted that the School Board also must consider the wishes of district employees.

"There are plenty of people who want Walt to stay," Mason said. "And there may be some people out there with a grudge who want him to go. Our job is to balance out all the information we receive and make an informed decision based on facts, not personal beefs."

The School Board will meet at 3 p.m. Friday at the Greer Education Center, 2832 E. Flamingo Road, to discuss the superintendent search. A final selection could be made at that time.

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

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