Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

New school board trustee studying up

The new Clark County School District board representative for Henderson and Boulder City never pictured a life in politics. She did, however, plan to be involved in her children's school lives.

That passion for her children — William, 9, and Gregory, 16 — has led Deanna Wright to a spot as School Board member and representative for thousands of children and parents.

Wright was elected in November to replace Mary Beth Scow, who was not allowed to run for re-election after 12 years because of term limits. Wright will be sworn in as a board member at 4 p.m. Jan. 5 at the Edward A. Greer Education Center board room, 2832 E. Flamingo Road.

She will be one of three new members to take their seats in January. Wright and the other board members-elect — Chris Garvey and Linda Young — are going through training until the end of the school year, she said.

Wright has been involved with Clark County schools since 1999, when her family moved to Henderson from California. Her interest started while serving on the PTA at several schools.

When word came that Scow's seat would soon be vacated, she started thinking seriously about the possibility of running for the board, she said.

"I knew people were wanting a change," she said. "I felt I could do as good or a better job than some of the other candidates."

After months of work and endorsements from Scow and the teacher's union, Wright was elected in November. Since then, she's devoted her time to preparing for the new position.

"I don't want to have to be brought up to speed," she said. "I want to hit the ground running."

Wright has been attending both School Board meetings and Attendance Zone Advisory Commission meetings, where she has worked to familiarize herself with some of the major issues affecting parents — from school rezoning to budget cuts.

Wright is very familiar with the current high school rezoning issuesin Henderson. Her older son attends Coronado, though he would not be affected by either of the proposed new zoning maps, she said. However, she said, she is not sure that rezoning is the right decision right now.

"I'm really frustrated with having to do that this year," she said. "I understand the reason, but I would like to look at other options. … I would also hope the public can come to us not just in anger but come with ideas."

As far as the budget cuts, Wright said, there's no question the budget will continue to be a struggle. With a revenue shortfall inevitable and the School District powerless to raise funds independent of the state, something will have to go, she said.

"There's no way with the restraints that have been given that everyone's going to be happy," she said. "Everyone should be fuming … but some people don't realize that the district has no power to raise money on its own."

Frances Vanderploeg can be reached at 990-2660 or [email protected].

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