Longtime elementary principal reflects as he readies to leave

Jean Reid Norman

Lee Esplin in his office Thursday at Martha P. King Elementary School in Boulder City. Tuesday will be his last day as principal. He’s moving to a school in Henderson, citing the pay downgrade he was to receive next year at King due to a reclassification.

By Jean Reid Norman (contact)

Sunday, June 28, 2009 | 1:59 a.m.

Lee Esplin stood among boxes in his office Thursday at Martha P. King Elementary School in Boulder City. A poster featuring photos of his seven years as principal sat tucked among the packed goods.

Esplin is leaving King on Tuesday to become principal at Harriet Treem Elementary, a year-round school in Henderson.

“Sometimes we face crossroads in our lives, and I faced one this year,” he said.

That crossroads was the reclassifying of King in a way that would force Esplin to take a pay cut.

The formula for principal pay takes into account the size of a school, its staff, programs and other responsibilities, he said. Boulder City had been in the middle category but was downgraded for next year, Esplin said.

That would have meant $5,000 to $6,000 less a year for his family.

“When I looked at the situation, I looked at what I have to do. As a father, I have to support my family,” he said.

The assignment to Treem instead gives Esplin a raise: It is in the highest pay category and, as a year-round school, it provides an 11-month contract instead of a 10-month one.

It’s hard to leave Boulder City, Esplin said, but beyond the pay, Treem offers a new challenge.

“Change is good for people. It helps them grow,” he said.

Esplin, a graduate of Southern Utah University, started in the Clark County School District as a student teacher at C.T. Sewell Elementary School in Henderson, then taught second through fourth grade at four different schools — King among them — before becoming an educational computer specialist for three Henderson schools. He became assistant principal at C.P. Squires in 2000, where he stayed for two years before coming to King.

King offered something none of the other schools could: Students attend the same schools from kindergarten through high school, and the schools can work closely together to make the transitions smooth, he said.

“The downfall,” he said, “tends to be in elementary school, when kids have a problem with each other. They’re going to be in school together through high school.”

Generally, Esplin said, the children work out their differences by junior high school, but it teaches an important lesson.

“This is a small community. You can’t avoid each other,” he said. “At some point, you have to learn to tolerate each other.”

When Esplin came to King, he said, it was a great school, and he enjoyed keeping those standards high.

He is proud of the 20 Boy Scout and Eagle Scout projects that have improved the school, the field trips King students have taken to enrich their educations, the science program that all King students attend twice a week, the Fast ForWord program, which aims to improve students’ ability to focus, and various other literacy programs that he says have improved the students’ ability to read and comprehend.

In addition, he said, the school has increased its use of technology dramatically in the past seven years.

It now has two computer labs. Every classroom has three to seven computers, and the library has nine. All teachers have laptops, and the school provides them wireless Internet access, so they can use it anywhere in the classroom they need to.

All classrooms also have an enhanced audio system that projects the teachers’ voice throughout the room, making it easier for students to hear instructions.

While Esplin has left that legacy at King, the community has left a legacy with him, he said.

“Boulder City is unique in that you can really get involved in the community,” he said. “My family has developed lifelong relationships with some people in Boulder City, and I hope to continue them.

“I’m gone, but not gone.”