School Board delays decision on rural elementaries

Board votes for one-year reprieve on possible closure of two schools

Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009 | 7:38 p.m.

Clark County School District

Two rural Clark County elementary schools facing closure were granted a one-year reprieve Thursday evening.

The Clark County School Board voted unanimously for a one-year delay on deciding the fates of the Goodsprings and Lundy campuses.

The vote came after School Board Vice President Carolyn Edwards said there was uncertainty about the true cost of keeping the tiny schools operating for just a handful of children.

“We are continuing to get information,” Edwards told the crowded meeting room.

The delay will allow the district to “move a little more cautiously here," Edwards said, "and allow for a full vetting of the issue.”

Her comments were met with loud applause by the packed audience at the Greer Education Center on Flamingo Road, where the School Board holds its bi-weekly meetings.

Edwards reminded the audience that the delay doesn’t mean the schools might not again face closure at the end of the year’s review.

Goodsprings, located 30 miles southwest of Las Vegas, has six students, two rooms and one teacher.

Lundy serves nine students in a one-room school on Mount Charleston. District officials said the cost of operating the two rural schools could no longer be justified as the school system cuts $120 million from its budget for the upcoming biennium.The cost of operating the tiny schools is significantly higher than larger campuses.

Goodsprings represents an irreplaceable link to Nevada’s past and represents the fortitude of its citizens, said Elizabeth Warren, a founding member and trustee of the town’s historical society.

“Boom and bust are more than words in a textbook,” Warren told the School Board. “It’s what we’re all going through, and Goodsprings has gone through for more than 100 years. We’ve been up and done many times and still survived.”

The Mount Charleston community has similarly rallied around its school. Parents said they will buy all classroom supplies that are needed, and also provide custodial and maintenance services in order to help trim the school’s operating costs.

Discussion: 1 comment so far…

By CCSDTeacher

1/23/09 at 8:04 a.m.

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Let's hear it for the Grandmas on the School Board.... They just can't make a decision. Let's spend a ton of cash --- which we don't have --- and accommodate 12 kids...... Remarkable......