Story Archive

Adult education adds offerings, flexibility

District hopes to boost graduation rate with vocational training

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

The Clark County School District is launching an initiative designed to help dropouts and students teetering on the brink of academic failure.

Schools resume teacher hiring

District still to fill math, special education openings before other position

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

The Legislature’s decisions about budget cuts during its special session June 27 eliminated much of the uncertainty about the School District’s finances for the coming year, enabling the district to resume hiring, Superintendent Walt Rulffes decided late Monday.

School Board’s dissident is MIA

Illness cited for frequent absences

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Shirley Barber’s stint on the Clark County School Board doesn’t end until the start of 2009, but she has been half-gone for at least a year. Of the 50 board meetings held since June 2007, Barber has missed 25.

Proof is in: Career-oriented education works

Saturday, June 28, 2008

New research showing the long-term benefits of career and technical education suggests the Clark County School District is already on the right track.

School Board going live

Meetings will be broadcast on the Internet, satisfying both advocates and critics of the panel

Saturday, June 28, 2008

After lengthy delays, the Clark County School Board plans to begin broadcasting its meetings live on the Internet beginning with the start of the academic year in August.

School District freezes hiring, but 791 more teachers needed

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Faced with the likelihood of cutting more than $100 million from its operating budget, the Clark County School District has frozen almost all hiring for the upcoming academic year, leaving it at least 791 teachers short for the school year that starts in August.

Countywide math scores sound alarm

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Clark County school officials are now facing overwhelming evidence that their K-12 math program must be overhauled: 89 percent of the district’s high school algebra I students failed their final exams this month.

Kids learn about legislation from a two-way professional

Lawmaker Lynn Stewart, also an ex-government teacher, addresses leaders

Monday, June 23, 2008

Assemblyman Lynn Stewart, R-Las Vegas, is the Legislature’s oldest freshman, having been elected in 2006 after more than 34 years as a high school teacher.

Raises could become hot potato

The district relied on the Legislature, which might rescind the authorization

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Talk of reducing or eliminating funding for Clark County School District employees’ raises has district officials more than a little worried. If state funding is eliminated during the looming special legislative session, the district could be on the hook for the money.

Teachers convicted of sex crimes still licensed

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

It’s been nearly two years since a legislative audit criticized the Nevada Education Department for taking too long to revoke the teaching licenses of criminals.

Charter school on thin ice

As audit nears, School Board’s sponsorship of 100 Academy in question

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

When 100 Academy of Excellence charter school opened in 2006, it was touted as a lighthouse of education in North Las Vegas, a place where at-risk students would have a challenging curriculum, mentors and superior teachers. Now, its effectiveness is in dispute.

Donations pour in for school’s poor children

Principal says whole community is helping

Monday, June 9, 2008

The woman walked in to the lobby of Whitney Elementary School loaded down with boxes of canned goods and other pantry staples.

School goes all out to help poor kids learn

With needs met, students at Whitney can concentrate in the classroom

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

On her first day as principal at Whitney Elementary School more than four years ago, Sherrie Gahn noticed students in the lunch line were loading up their pockets with plastic ketchup packets. A cafeteria worker explained to Gahn that the kids were taking the ketchup home so they would have something to eat for dinner.

Rulffes frustrated too, but expresses it in a different way

He and Chancellor Jim Rogers work together to face challenges to schools

Monday, June 2, 2008

The full, fiery fury of University Chancellor Jim Rogers is something to behold. When he’s mad — and he’s definitely mad about the latest round of cuts to education funding — he doesn’t hesitate to make his feelings known.

Rogers boils over

Chancellor says governor wounds education, won’t return his calls

Friday, May 30, 2008

Instead of looking forward and trying to find long-term solutions to the state’s education woes, University System Chancellor Jim Rogers said, Gov. Jim Gibbons is hiding behind an unthinking pledge not to raise taxes — a pledge that translates into budget cuts across public education.

School choice program sparks interest, if moderate

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The Clark County School District’s experiment with open enrollment is off to a promising, if modest, start.

The price for fighting: Schools may owe millions

Lawsuit over kitchen work likely won’t be settled with cash offer

Thursday, May 22, 2008

The Clark County School District has racked up a bill of more than $360,000 the district could have settled for $175,000 in 1997, and it may still face a judgment of more than $5 million from a jury.

Well-prepared students quiz governor’s staff chief

Questioning impresses state superintendent, who says, ‘You should be given academic credit ... I’ll write you a letter’

Monday, May 19, 2008

Mike Dayton, the governor’s chief of staff, endured more of grilling than he expected last week at the hands of a group of high school students.

Dropping out to go to work

More teens quit school to help financially needy families

Thursday, May 15, 2008

The number of Clark County teens dropping out of high school so they can work has jumped dramatically, and officials suspect the economic downturn is to blame.

Board cuts its travel budget, a little more than asked

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

In a “we feel your pain” moment, School Board President Mary Beth Scow recently asked her colleagues to support trimming their annual travel allocation by the same 4.5 percent Gov. Jim Gibbons has shaved off K-12 education funding statewide.

Candidates for board include insiders

Three district employees, retiree are running — so far

Saturday, May 10, 2008

With the Friday filing deadline still days away, the field of candidates in year’s School Board race is shaping up as the most interesting in recent memory.

Retired teachers’ health plan pact reached

The goal is to keep tenured educators on the job

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

After months of haggling, the Clark County School District and the teachers union have a tentative agreement to offer health insurance to the district’s retired educators.

Seven high schools could start drug tests

Federal grant would allow student-athlete program to expand

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Just four months after a high school in Henderson became the state’s first public campus to randomly test student-athletes for drugs and alcohol, the Clark County School District is planning to expand the program.

Longtime school official to run for board

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Edward Goldman, an associate superintendent in the Clark County School District, plans to file Monday for the District A seat on the Clark County School Board, held since 1996 by Mary Beth Scow. “I think it’s time for some changes,” Goldman told the Sun on Friday.

Disputed charter school can’t be barred

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Nevada Education Department officials do not want an out-of-state company opening a second charter school in the Las Vegas Valley this fall, but they can’t prevent it.

Most students aren’t failing math, schools chief says

Rulffes: Results of district test misleading

Monday, April 28, 2008

What was intended as an in-house assessment of its students’ math skills continues to be a very public headache for the Clark County School District.

First dedicated school for deaf in state to open

Las Vegas charter campus to fill need

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Nevada is one of just a few states without a dedicated campus for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. After more than six years of planning, a charter school serving those students is set to open this fall.

Governor to host backers of charter schools

Advocate calls for unity in face of state, big district moratoriums on applications

Monday, April 14, 2008

The State Board of Education may have put a temporary hold on new charter schools, but that isn’t stopping advocates from looking to the future.

Expelled, but not out

With referrals for expulsion from regular campuses high and funding tight, officials want to know whether alternative schools are worth the cost

Monday, April 14, 2008

For the past few weeks, Clark County principals have been recommending up to 100 students for expulsion each day, putting extra strain on a disciplinary system that many say has long been stretched too thin. The School District’s daily volume of expulsion referrals is at an all-time high, according to Associate Superintendent Edward Goldman.

Brothers find last chance could be best chance

Monday, April 14, 2008

In fall 2006, Eldorado High School freshman Josh Gilbert brought an unloaded gun to campus, stashed deep inside his pants. No one noticed.

Teacher merit awards slip-slide away

Performance initiative latest budget cut casualty

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

The discussions about how Nevada could reward its best teachers and offer incentives for them to stay on the job began months before the start of the 2007 Legislature.

After math disaster, schools test on science

Friday, April 4, 2008

This isn’t the week to be asking Clark County School District officials to predict student performance on a new exam.

School's cuts may never heal

Clark County history shows that reductions in school spending, often sold as temporary to make them more palatable, have a way of becoming permanent

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

As Clark County schools brace for still more budget cuts, history shows they will be anything but temporary.

Official asks why all kids must take algebra

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Some of the students who failed a new math test shouldn’t have been in the class in the first place, longtime educator Bill Hanlon told the Clark County School Board on Thursday.

With state to toughen math exam, low achievement challenges district

Friday, March 28, 2008

Next week’s Nevada High School Proficiency Exam should help determine just how big Clark County schools’ math problem is, but the test is also part of the problem.

Prospect of millions for school programs fades with budget woes

Thursday, March 27, 2008

This week was supposed to be about good news for the Clark County School District, with Superintendent Walt Rulffes announcing the expansions of the popular full-day kindergarten and empowerment schools pilot programs. But with whispers of a worsening economic outlook for the state growing ever louder, Rulffes canceled the briefing Monday afternoon.

California teachers ‘would fit right in’

Projected layoffs mean hiring prospects for Clark County

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

During Carlos Garcia’s five years as superintendent, the Clark County School District hired more than 8,000 new teachers.

He’s graduating, and didn’t spend a day in class

First four-year Virtual High School student ‘wonderful ambassador’

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

When Matt Sosa graduates this spring, he will do so without having attended a bricks-and-mortar high school. Instead, he’s spent the past four years downloading his teachers’ lectures, participating in group discussions via live chat rooms and e-mailing his homework.

Slowed growth a relief for schools

District sees chance to catch breath, make gains in hiring, building

Monday, March 24, 2008

After years of being preoccupied with growth-related issues, the Clark County School District is anticipating a reprieve. When the student head count is taken in September, it’s expected to reflect the smallest annual percentage increase in enrollment since 1985.

State board member sees payback for charter stance

Sunday, March 23, 2008

As the State Board of Education prepared to approve a controversial moratorium on new charter schools, member Barbara Myers got up and walked out, refusing to vote.

In ‘Pit Boss II,’ robotics team seeks back-to-back competition wins

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Because it won last year’s national championship, Cimarron-Memorial High School’s robotics team gets a guaranteed berth in this year’s competition. But that doesn’t mean the 25-member team isn’t ready to rumble at next week's regional contest.

School crisis team responds to girl’s death

Counselors, staff rally quickly for students in wake of killing

Sunday, March 16, 2008

The news spread quickly at Kathy and Tim Harney Middle School that a sixth grader had been killed Wednesday in a violent attack. And just as quickly, Clark County School District’s crisis team sprang into action.

Facing charter timeout, school rushing to open in a YMCA

Friday, March 14, 2008

A new charter school hopes to offer classes at the Durango Hills YMCA beginning in September, rather than wait until construction of a permanent facility is complete.

No thanks, we’ll keep kids in the schools they’re in now

Given right to switch, but with no transportation provided, few want to use it

Thursday, March 13, 2008

The Clark County School District’s experiment in open enrollment, which allows families to send their children to a school other than their assigned campus, is off to a slow start. Just 45 applications have been filed from among 50,000 eligible students, with the Friday deadline looming.

This new teacher plans to buck the odds, and stay

Monday, March 10, 2008

Brian Lenze is just one of more than 3,000 teachers in their first year with the Clark County School District. Of those new hires, 70 percent came from outside Nevada. Typically the district loses 50 percent of its new teachers within five years. They come in green, get a little seasoning and go back home to teach.

Survey to help district make cuts that many oppose

Big majority of responses comes from school employees

Saturday, March 8, 2008

In a new online survey conducted by the Clark County School District, Gov. Jim Gibbons’ proposed K-12 education budget cuts received nearly unanimous disapproval.

School District has one bear of a computer system, but it’s hibernating

$35 million and counting, it’s only partly done, and money to complete it has run out

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Officials knew the Clark County School District’s new computer system was going to cost at least $33 million. They pressed forward, saying it would make employees more efficient, resolve auditors’ long-standing concerns and save so much money by consolidating services that it would pay for itself in three to five years.

Schools’ unsung stars: Parents

Superintendent stresses healthy home life at summit

Monday, March 3, 2008

The importance of parents’ involvement in their children’s education took center stage Friday at a daylong education summit.

To keep teachers in classrooms

District wants to end early retirement incentive and save money

Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008

With the hunt already on for the thousands of new Clark County teachers needed for the 2008-09 school year, the last thing Chief Human Resources Officer Martha Tittle needs is a district policy that adds to the problem.

School with rich history takes a leading role

Monday, Feb. 25, 2008

If Nina Hooks ever tires of teaching, she could have a second career at sporting events.