Like it or not (most don’t), students going to Liberty

By Emily Richmond

Monday, March 16, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Coronado High School students and parents pleaded their case to the Clark County School Board Thursday, asking that they not be re-zoned to another campus for the 2009-10 academic year.

Roughly 250 students will be rezoned from overcrowded Coronado to Liberty High School, which is under capacity by about 700 students.

School Board members spent about two hours on the issue, before upholding the earlier rezoning decision. As a partial compromise, the board said the rezoned students, who live in the Anthem Heights and Madeira Canyon communities, could stay at Coronado if enough other students voluntarily transfer to Liberty.

Students said they didn’t want to leave their friends, lose their spots on varsity sports teams or hurt their chances for post-grad opportunities by switching schools.

Perhaps the most trenchant argument came from Coronado student Carleen Saladino, who said she doubted the School District’s argument that it would be too expensive to notify the affected families if one of the more complex zoning alternatives were implemented.

Saladino brought in a stack of fliers and postcards she had received in the nine days since the board’s March 3 zoning meeting, notifying them of field trips, a parents night, campus carnival, the Coronado Band’s craft fair and the school lunch menu. Saladino also received four automated phone calls from Coronado and a “welcome” letter from Liberty.

“I don’t understand why a speed bump is being turned into a mountain,” Saladino said. “Why is this such a hurdle?”

“Point well taken,” answered School Board President Terri Janison.

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The so-called Teachers’ Bill of Rights, which died during the 2007 legislative session, is being revived.

Assemblyman Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, said he gave up some elements of the original bill to improve its chances of success.

As in the 2007 version, the bill gives school employees more opportunities to defend themselves when accused of misconduct or poor performance.

An employment rights attorney, Segerblom has represented teachers and support employees in suits against the district.

The legislation is intended to stem the exodus of teachers who quit out of frustration with the how they are treated by their supervisors, Segerblom said. The revised version of the bill covers administrators and support employees, as well as teachers, and wouldn’t supplant any negotiated agreements between districts and bargaining groups.

The Nevada State Education Association opposed the 2007 version. Julie Whitacre, director of government relations for the teachers union, said it has been working with Segerblom and is prepared to support the bill.

Clark County School District officials declined to comment, saying they hadn’t seen the bill. The district opposed the 2007 bill.

Segerblom dropped language that would have allowed a teacher or union representative to demand an independent investigation of an administrator, on the district’s dime. He also deleted a requirement that the rights be posted on every campus. The revised version requires that every employee receive a copy and principals review it with staff annually.

In most schools such legislation would never be necessary, “because there’s a good principal and everything’s on the up and up,” said Segerblom, who introduced the revised bill on Friday. “But some administrators need to be told what’s common decency and fair play.”

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Nevada Virtual Academy, an online charter school sponsored by the State Board of Education, will hold information sessions for families interested in enrolling for the 2009-10 academic year.

The academy provides home computers and Internet access to students and — as with all public schools — there is no tuition. The curriculum is designed by K12 Inc., a national for-profit education company. Licensed teachers hold online classes and meet one-on-one with students throughout the year. Currently the academy serves students in grades K-9 and will add grades 10-12 in the fall.

Community meetings will be held at

7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24, at the Nevada Virtual Academy offices, 187 E. Warm Springs Road, Suite C. An 11 a.m. meeting will also be held on Tuesday, March 24, at the College of Southern Nevada’s Cheyenne Campus, Paul Laxalt Center, 3200 E. Cheyenne Ave., North Las Vegas. For more information about the academy, go to www.k12.com.