LOOKING IN ON: EDUCATION

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Sunday, Oct. 1, 2006 | 7:36 a.m.

Steve Greco, candidate for the District E seat on the Clark County School Board, has said he's proud to have served on the school board of his Illinois hometown. But despite repeated requests from the Sun, he refused time and again to specify which town.

Greco finally told us on Friday the name of the town - the village of Schiller Park, Ill., about 20 miles northwest of Chicago.

Greco said he had withheld the information because he didn't want to help his opponent, appointed District E incumbent Terri Janison, who has also been trying to verify his record of public service.

According to Cook County's election department, Greco was elected in April 1999 to the seven-member board of School District 81. Voters had to choose three candidates out of a field of six - Greco came in second. He also served on Schiller Park's library board.

Schiller Park has three schools, serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, and a total enrollment of about 1,300 students. Greco left the school board in 2001, when he and his wife relocated to Clark County, home to more than 300,000 students.

About 50 police officers from surrounding municipalities attended Thursday's Clark County School Board meeting, in a show of solidarity with their overworked campus cop brethren. It was standing-room only, with people spilling into the hallways and outside.

About a dozen School Police officers testified during public comment and urged the School Board to fill vacancies and increase security at campuses. Phil Gervasi, president of the Clark County School Police Officers Association, explained why the entire 132-officer roster hadn't shown up for the rally and meeting.

"Tonight is football night - our freshman and JV teams are playing and our officers are at those games keeping kids safe," Gervasi told the School Board, drawing lengthy applause.

Term limits are benching Gary Waters from the State Board of Education, but some of his colleagues aren't ready to say goodbye just yet.

Waters is finishing his third term as representative of District 1, which includes much of Southern Nevada. Member John Gwaltney, who represents the Reno area, wants to create an "emeritus" position for long-timers like Waters.

To qualify, a board member would have had to serve at least two terms, head a minimum of two committees and work on special projects, as assigned. The emeritus member would not have voting rights.

With a legislative session around the corner, Gwaltney said, it would benefit the state board to be able to draw on Waters' institutional memory.

"This should be recognition for a board member that has served well," Gwaltney said. "It's expensive, it takes up a lot of time and the $80 (per meeting stipend) is not why we're here."

Andre Denson, widely considered one of the rising stars of the Clark County School District's administrative ranks, is the southeast region's new superintendent, overseeing 58 schools.

A graduate of Rancho High School, Denson served as principal of Mojave High School. More recently he was an assistant superintendent in the district's northeast region.