LOOKING IN ON: EDUCATION

By Emily Richmond

Saturday, Dec. 8, 2007 | 7:25 a.m.

Sandra Ransel, principal of Desert Rose Adult High School, has always loved Paul Harvey's radio program "The Rest of the Story." And now she has one of those tales of her own to tell.

This week, a woman came to Desert Rose to thank staff members for the help they had provided her daughter, who was about to graduate. The graduation was extra-special, the woman told Ransel, not only because of her daughter's hard work, but because the name Desert Rose has great significance to her.

This fall the school moved its operations to portable classrooms behind the Area Trade Technical Center in North Las Vegas, and will take over the site in 2009. The school's old building, a former Mormon church on Robin Street, has since been demolished to make way for an expansion at the nearby magnet high school.

Back in the 1960s, the woman explained, she attended services at the church, which parishioners nicknamed "Our rose in the desert" for its wealth of flowers, grass and trees in the landscaping. And the rose-beige painted church was the last building before the street gave way to undeveloped desert.

Ransel could barely hide her surprise at the story, since Desert Rose was the winner of a naming contest. It wasn't even bestowed on the adult high school until 2001, when a middle-aged student from Korea won the contest. The Korean woman said she had chosen the name because the school - and its students - were like the desert rose, surviving against the odds and blooming all year.

And now you know, (with apologies to Harvey) the rest of the story.

In her seven years on the State Board of Education, Barbara Myers has never felt the need to make her point by skipping a vote.

That is, until her colleagues decided they wanted to temporarily stop sponsoring charter schools.

For Myers, the issue went beyond the debate and whether the Nevada Education Department had the resources to properly review charter school applications and monitor campuses that won sponsorship.

The agenda item itself was so flawed it should never have been placed on the agenda, Myers told the board at last week's meeting.

"I believe it was improperly placed on the agenda and, quite possibly, illegal," Myers told the Sun.

The state board meeting was held in Las Vegas. Carson City resident Myers participated via teleconference from the department's Northern Nevada office. When the roll-call vote came after three hours of debate and testimony, the camera showed only her empty seat.

Board members said the moratorium on charter schools is necessary until the Education Department receives the support it needs to carry out its duties. But some observers, including state Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, have questioned the legality of a moratorium, in light of statutes that require the state board to review all charter school applications. At Cegavske's request, the Legislative Counsel Bureau is investigating.

Before the state board's vote, member Jan Biggerstaff asked her colleagues whether it might be better to put off the vote until the Legislative Committee on Education takes up the issue of charter schools later this winter.

"I'd hate to cut our nose off to spite our face," Biggerstaff said.

But member Merv Iverson said it would be better to "strike while the iron is hot."

The motion passed 8-0. In addition to Myers' intentional nonvote, member Gregory Nance was absent from Friday's meeting.

For the 12th consecutive year, Clark County School Police will treat underprivileged children to a holiday shopping spree.

Using money donated by student council organizations from throughout the district, School Police will escort about 200 students through the aisles of a local K-Mart today. Each child will receive a $100 gift card to use toward items for himself and his family.

Officers from the Nevada Highway Patrol and College of Southern Nevada will also take part.

Apparently, NHP is needed as an escort for Santa's arrival, as the route is typically a "no fly zone" for reindeer and their sleigh.