LOOKING IN ON: EDUCATION

Saturday, July 22, 2006 | 7:47 a.m.

Clark County School Board trustee is a nonpartisan office, but allegations of partisan politics are nonetheless creeping into the District G race.

Incumbent Sheila Moulton, a lifelong Republican, changed her voter registration to "Democrat" in May. Moulton told the Sun it wasn't an easy decision but necessary so that she could vote for her candidates of choice in the upcoming primary.

"It's known throughout the state that many races are won and lost in the primary," Moulton said. "I've never voted along party lines, it's always been about the person."

But one of her opponents in the District G race, former Teamsters Local 14 trustee Gina Greisen, says Moulton made the switch in order to win the backing of local labor groups and Nevada Democratic Party Chairman Tom Collins, who is a Clark County commissioner.

Moulton has the endorsement of the Nevada State AFL-CIO - support that Greisen claimed when she last challenged Moulton in 2002.

"I've always been the labor candidate," Greisen said. "My family has over 200 years combined union membership."

Collins could not be reached for comment.

Danny Thompson, spokesman for the Nevada state AFL-CIO, said a candidate's party affiliation has no bearing on the decision on whether to endorse.

"The only consideration is her voting record," Thompson said.

The Clark County Education Association is meeting with six School Board candidates Monday, including Moulton. Mary Ella Holloway, president of the teachers union, said because the seat is nonpartisan, a candidate's party affiliation is a non-issue.

"We don't even ask them when we interview them," Holloway said.

The School Board was expected to consider approving Theophilus Boone, an Indianapolis business executive, as the district's next chief financial officer. But his name has been withdrawn, at least for now.

George Ann Rice, associate superintendent of human resources for the district, did not return calls for comment. Superintendent Walt Rulffes said Friday the district needed more time to check Boone's references.

The School District has asked to be reimbursed $811,500 by the federal government to cover the costs of absorbing several hundred students in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Hurricane Relief Program was authorized to help districts that took in students displaced by the storm. Orleans Parish canceled the remainder of its school year after flood waters destroyed dozens of campuses, and students were scattered to many states in search of refuge.

The New Orleans public school system, already struggling before the hurricane, has since been taken over by the state. About half of the city's 60,000 students are expected to return for the 2006-07 academic year.

Jewdeia and Eric Olmsted, two of the nine Gulf Coast teachers hired by the School District after Hurricane Katrina, will be back for the 2006-07 academic year. But it was family that proved the biggest lure in their decision to move to North Las Vegas.

Jewdeia's mother, Beverly Booker, is a special education teacher at Rancho High School and, along with her husband Ray, has been in Clark County for 12 years. The hurricane accelerated the Olmsteds' decision to move closer to the ones they love; the School District provided the opportunity.

Kelly Sturdy, principal of Fay Herron Elementary School, had eight teacher positions to fill for the start of the new school year in August. Sturdy found herself competing with schools promising more money. But they weren't from another district.

The poaching was internal.

This spring, teachers logging on to the district's in-house network were bombarded with messages urging them to apply for positions at one of the district's new "empowerment schools," a pilot program designed to test whether granting more autonomy to principals raises student achievement. Teachers at the schools will be paid for an extra 2.5 hours of work each week and principals will have more leeway in budget, curriculum and instructional decisions.

The messages increased in frequency and tenor as the district struggled to drum up interest. "They advertised every day - 'You can make up to $7,000 more,' " Sturdy said. "I lost two people. They went because of the money."