Results due on revised math test

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Clark County School District officials will reveal Wednesday how middle and high school students fared on a revised version of a controversial math test.

As of Friday, the results of the semester exam were still filtering in from schools and being verified by the district’s curriculum and instruction office.

There are typically a few bumps when a new test is used, but last year’s poor showing took educators by surprise. Ninety-one percent of Algebra 1 students and 86 percent of Algebra 2 students failed. Eighty-eight percent of geometry students failed.

Previously, teachers used their own exams to determine a student’s grade in algebra and geometry. But the district wanted a uniform measure of how well students were learning the material and whether they would be ready for a tougher statewide proficiency exam that debuts next year.

The district assembled an expert committee to make sure this year’s tests more closely reflected course material. Teachers were given more help preparing students for the exams.

Based on the committee’s recommendations, the district wrote separate tests for students enrolled in the two geometry classes offered in the district.

Officials also backed off an earlier initiative to enroll as many students as possible in algebra by the eighth grade.

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If a proposed federal stimulus package wins congressional approval, Clark County, the nation’s fifth-largest school district, stands to receive nearly $180 million in new money over a two-year period.

The money includes $64 million for school construction in the first year, along with $29 million for disadvantaged students and $25.6 million for special education. In the second year, schools serving the highest percentages of disadvantaged students would share an extra $29 million, and special education funding would jump by $31 million.

The state’s grim fiscal picture forced the district to trim its $1.2 billion operating budget by $133 million, with another $120 million in cuts projected for the next biennium.

The stimulus money can’t be used to replace or restore dollars that have been cut, Clark County Schools Superintendent Walt Rulffes said.

“Make no mistake, we welcome those dollars and they are badly needed,” Rulffes said. “My concern is that we have to be careful not to add programs that would have continuing costs. You don’t want to add an ongoing liability with one-time money.”

For the 2008-09 academic year, the district received about $60 million in federal Title I dollars, earmarked for the poorest students at struggling campuses. That was enough to serve 76 campuses, up from 69 in the prior academic year. The money is directed to schools serving the highest percentages of students from low-income households.

Having an extra $29 million next year would mean about 15 more schools could be served, said Susan Wright, director of Title I programs for the district.

The House bill would also allow additional money to be spent on improving energy efficiency at Title I schools.

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The district already has a lengthy priority list of campuses awaiting upgrades and repairs, which would likely be a starting point for spending stimulus funds. Because the School Board opted to hold off on putting a new capital campaign before voters until next year, the $200 million wish list moved to the back burner.

The list includes $6.2 million for Charlotte Hill Elementary School, in the district’s southeast region, which needs a new roof, said Jacqueline Brown, who is in her 11th year as principal at the East Eldorado Lane campus. And the aging HVAC system was slated for replacement five years ago. Parents have occasionally called the school to complain when the air conditioning has broken down. That’s been a less common occurrence since the school went to a nine-month calendar instead of year-round, Brown said.

At Basic High School in Henderson, about $1 million in modernization work is waiting, including landscaping and replacing the worn-out flooring in the orchestra room. Principal David Bechtel said the district does a good job of keeping up with requests, especially for the most pressing jobs at high-need schools, but there’s never enough money or manpower to go around.

“All the principals in this district probably have a project we’d like to see done at our schools,” Bechtel said. “I think all the public entities are struggling right now to keep up. The federal money would be a blessing.”