LOOKING IN ON: EDUCATION

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2006 | 7:24 a.m.

The Clark County School District riled state legislators by hiring 21 employees for the human resources department with state funds earmarked for innovative educational programs and services. But district officials defend the decision, saying it was essential to the hiring of more than 2,700 new teachers for the 2006-07 academic year.

The district started the school year short nearly 400 teachers.

Without the 20 personnel assistants and one administrator hired with the funds, the teacher shortage would have been much greater, said George Ann Rice, associate superintendent of human resources for the district.

Gov. Kenny Guinn appointed a commission to review grant applications and hand out $77 million in state funds with a goal of raising student achievement. Rice was chosen to head the commission, and had no role in either reviewing or approving the grant application from the human resources department.

Of Clark County's share of the money, the School District will use $1.8 million over 18 months for the new employees.

The 20 personnel assistants earn an average of $47,000 a year. The administrator, Byron Green, earns $85,000 annually.

Clark County Schools Superintendent Walt Rulffes said if the positions are still necessary when the grant expires, the district will pay the salaries.

With the extra staff, Rice said, her office was able to process teacher job applications more quickly. The staff divided applications into subgroups by subject area - such as math and science - as well as alphabetically, giving each individual assistant a more reasonable workload.

At an Aug. 30 meeting, the Legislative Committee on Education said grant money should not have been allocated to pay for human resources personnel. The committee, which oversees the commission, said schools serving at-risk students should get priority in future allocations, and all grants should be directly tied to classroom instruction and interaction with students.

Both Rulffes and Rice said they supported the committee's actions.

"They're making their intent more clear and we appreciate that," Rice said.

Two-time Clark County School Board candidate Gina Greisen is suing her former employer, the Las Vegas Valley Water District, for firing her after she declared her intention to seek public office.

As reported by the Sun in May, Greisen said she was fired an hour after informing her boss she planned to challenge incumbent Sheila Moulton for the District G seat. At the time, Greisen had been working for the Water District for about five months.

Representing Greisen in her suit is Richard "Tick" Segerblom, a longtime employee rights attorney who challenged School Board incumbent Shirley Barber for the District C seat in 2004. Segerblom is on the November ballot as the democratic candidate for Assembly District 9.

The complaint claims Greisen's boss fired her because he was following "the district's policy and custom, which prohibits employees from running for political office." That violated Greisen's First Amendment right to engage in political activity, the complaint alleges.

Scott Huntley, spokesman for the Water District, said, "We do not comment on matters related to active litigation."

Huntley did say that the Water District has never had a policy - either written or unwritten - that prohibits employees from seeking public office.

September is "Memorabilia Month" for the School District, and the 50th Anniversary Committee is looking for graduates willing to donate their own scraps of history. Yearbooks, photographs, report cards and other remnants of school days gone by will be put on display throughout the district. For more information go to www.ccsd.net.