Emily Richmond

Story Archive

Prices may rise but so may food’s appeal: Board puts off hike; food services enlists Wolfgang Puck to help with recipes; Monday, July 13, 2009; The School Board didn’t vote Thursday on whether to approve a 25-cent price increase in campus cafeterias after the topic wound up on the agenda for discussion only.
Successful run under ‘No Child’ likely at end: After two years of progress under federal law, district expects to come up short; Friday, July 10, 2009; Clark County School District isn’t expected to make the No Child Left Behind Act's adequate yearly progress, sources tell the Sun. Although remarkable gains were made at individual campuses, those performances won’t likely be enough to carry the day for the entire school system.
Superintendent offers to take 10 percent pay cut: Thursday, July 9, 2009; Clark County Schools Superintendent Walt Rulffes has offered to accept a 10 percent pay cut because of the ongoing budget crisis and its impact on the community.
School lunch prices might creep higher: Board weighing hike to cover cost increases; Thursday, July 9, 2009; The Clark County School District is poised to raise the cost of a school lunch by 25 cents for a second consecutive year, a move officials said is needed to cover the rising cost of making, delivering and serving more than 31 million meals a year.
Growth of successful teacher program slows in recession: Wednesday, July 8, 2009; The Clark County School District’s decision to partner with Teach for America in 2004 has arguably been one of its more successful experiments. But instead of increasing the number of new graduates recruited from the nation’s top colleges and universities to work as teachers in at-risk classrooms, the district is scaling back its expansion.
Just like Dad, school official says ‘turn off that light’: Energy manager going further, pushing for all appliances to be unplugged for July; Monday, July 6, 2009; Last week the Clark County School District made a frantic push to turn off every possible light, appliance and air conditioner at its hundreds of nine-month campuses, shutting them down entirely for the month of July.
The legacy of Chancellor Jim Rogers: A look at his tenure as chief of state's public colleges and universities; Sunday, July 5, 2009; Ever since his high school days as a student newspaper editorial writer, Jim Rogers has risen to the occasion, inserting his strong opinions even when not invited. This time it was in 2004 and the Nevada System of Higher Education was in disarray.
Six questions for Joe Boteilho: Wednesday, July 1, 2009; Joe Boteilho, chief code enforcement officer for Clark County, says Fourth of July fireworks trigger joy for most Clark County residents — but anxiety for the four-footed ones.
When bathrooms open, so can the school: Charter school $27,000 in water line costs away from welcoming students; Tuesday, June 30, 2009; The new Silver Sands Montessori Charter School has almost everything it needs to open its doors in August: students, teachers and an office building in a Henderson executive park.
Deaf pupils in danger of losing their school: Also, stimulus money for special ed and Title I doubles bookkeeping work; Tuesday, June 30, 2009; The organizers of the Las Vegas Charter School for the Deaf spent more than six years raising enough money to lease a facility, finally opening the school in fall 2008.
Test scores don’t quantify progress at all schools: Thursday, June 25, 2009; Timothy Stephens runs a high school that for six years has been labeled as failing. And in a month, he expects to be told that, for a seventh year running, the campus still isn’t as good as it should be.
Lots of logical uses of stimulus money ruled out: Title I lesson from Sandy Valley: Don’t spend federal money on equipment; Tuesday, June 23, 2009; One of the tricky parts about managing schools is taking into account that what the feds give, the feds can take away.
Parents at 11 schools opt for stricter dress code: Board expected to sign off on voting results at Thursday meeting; Monday, June 22, 2009; The votes are in, and students at 11 Clark County schools will face a stricter dress code when classes resume in August.
Unstimulated: Innovation: Nevada risks losing out on competitive grants designed to reward innovation; Monday, June 22, 2009; The intent of the federal stimulus money for the nation’s public schools was to foster improvement, innovation and reform. But in Nevada, the funding instead is largely being used to backfill the state’s financial holes. The idea that the stimulus money might actually stimulate education reform “is something of a fallacy,” says Keith Rheault, superintendent of public instruction. “... We won’t be able to do even one new innovative thing."
Rogers calls for Ashley’s ouster: Chancellor: UNLV president has the smarts, but lacks leadership; Wednesday, June 17, 2009; In his five years as chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, Jim Rogers has overseen the ouster of one UNLV president — Carol Harter — and, in his final days, wants to add a second notch to his belt.
High school, the sequel: Adult ed grads wiser, grateful, career-ready: Monday, June 15, 2009; High school dropout rates are tied to a community’s economic outlook. The bleaker the forecast, the more likely that students quit school to help their families pay the bills.
Latest graduation ranking has familiar ring: Saturday, June 13, 2009; Once again a national report has ranked Nevada at the bottom in high school graduation rates. And once again Silver State education officials are scrambling to explain why the formula is flawed.
UNLV president back early to deal with crisis: Status of Ashley's employment likely will be resolved next week; Wednesday, June 10, 2009; Calling the swirling storm around his job performance “a touch surreal,” UNLV President David Ashley said Wednesday that he cut his trip to Singapore short to come deal with the crisis head-on. Ashley made a brief visit to his campus office Wednesday. He had previously been due back in Las Vegas this coming Saturday.
After session, launching a charter school no easier: Proposal to cut back on red tape failed in session, and other hurdles remain; Wednesday, June 10, 2009; In a conference call with reporters this week, Education Secretary Arne Duncan once again touted the benefits of innovation and reform, urging states to lift caps on the number of charter schools that are allowed to operate.
Decision on Ashley wanted soon: In light of recent concerns, regents and higher education system chancellor would like to discuss future of UNLV presidency sooner than scheduled; Tuesday, June 9, 2009; Amid questions about his performance and judgment, UNLV President David Ashley said he may return to Las Vegas earlier than planned, cutting short a vacation he and his wife had added on to their university-sponsored trip to Singapore.
Carmen Lai, Clark High School Senior and Nevada Presidential Scholar: Monday, June 8, 2009; Every year two high school students from each state and a few others get to be Presidential Scholars.
Students get taste of fame, state’s history at annual parade: Monday, June 8, 2009; Southern Nevada Water Authority general manager Pat Mulroy was there, along with Steve Wynn and Howard Hughes. Multiple incarnations of Elvis Presley were spotted, strolling the red carpet with Dr. Eliza Cook, Greg Maddux and Sarah Winnemucca.
How we did: A look back at the session: Taxes and budget a big accomplishment, yet Legislature's great failure as well; Sunday, June 7, 2009; The legislative session was impossible. Lawmakers had no choice but to cut services and increase taxes, or see state services, especially education, all but shut down. The Las Vegas Sun reviews their actions on the budget, K-12 education, energy, health care, education policy, human rights, foreclosures, worker safety, F Street, the environment and public employees salaries and benefits. Legislators came in facing the largest deficit, as a proportion of the budget, in the nation.
Wife of UNLV president sends apology note to Rogers, regents: Saturday, June 6, 2009; Bonnie Ashley, the wife of UNLV President David Ashley, apologized Friday for her clashes with campus staff that have been characterized by others as abrasive, rude and intimidating.
Why not sever pricey ties to company?: Because School District’s deal with Edison Schools Inc. gives it no out over costs, and the company mostly has had big success; Friday, June 5, 2009; Some people called it a bad deal back in 2001, hiring the private Edison Schools Inc. to manage seven struggling Clark County School District campuses.
Rainy-day fund’s defeat a bitter pill for education: Wednesday, June 3, 2009; For the state’s school districts and their champions, the end of the 2009 legislative session was a nail-biter that culminated with a kick in the gut.
Titus offers schools help in cashing in on stimulus: She hopes district gets some of $1 billion for dropout prevention; Monday, June 1, 2009; During a visit to Centennial High School Thursday, Rep. Dina Titus said she’s committed to helping agencies in Nevada qualify for as many federal stimulus dollars as possible, particularly public schools.
Microbank project teaches lessons in applied philanthropy, capitalism: Saturday, May 30, 2009; A 27-year-old single mother in Peru needed cash to keep her modest neighborhood grocery store stocked. But the $325 loan Rosa needed was too small for traditional financial institutions to consider worthwhile.
Centennial’s Navy JROTC program is unrivaled: Sunday, May 24, 2009; For the first time the top Navy JROTC high school is west of Texas — and it’s Clark County’s Centennial High School. Centennial’s JROTC has racked up a slew of national honors in recent years, in both individual cadet and team categories.
Lawmakers consider new panel to oversee charter schools: Panel would, among other roles, tackle the arduous application process; Saturday, May 23, 2009; Nevada lawmakers are considering creating a new entity to oversee the state’s charter schools, a response to the State Board of Education’s 2007 moratorium on new charter school applications. Assembly Bill 489 would create a seven-member Nevada Charter School Institute.
Animal fighting law would get extra bite: Purebred-dog fanciers call legislative action a waste of time; Thursday, May 21, 2009; Nevada is on the verge of joining the rest of the nation in banning the owning, training or purchasing of an animal with intent to use it for fighting.
High school graduation rate increases to 65.1 percent: Tuesday, May 19, 2009; Clark County’s high school graduation rate was 65.1 percent in 2008, a gain of just over 2 percentage points, according to the latest data obtained Tuesday by the Sun. The district’s graduation rate in 2007 was 63 percent.
Meadows School hits milestone: Private academy isn’t alone now, 25 years later, and that suits its founder just fine; Sunday, May 17, 2009; In 1986, Carolyn Goodman led a small caravan out to Summerlin to take a look at the donated parcel of land that would become the Meadows School’s new home.
Think tank's Freedom Budget balances budget with deep cuts in education: Thursday, May 14, 2009; The state’s libertarians advocate curing Nevada’s budget crisis without a tax increase. For months all they’ve heard from Democrats and moderate Republicans is this: Well, what would you cut?
Teaching to the top, private school has staying power: Tuesday, May 12, 2009; In the early 1980s Carolyn Goodman regularly visited the headquarters of the Clark County School District to discuss with superintendents and administrators what she saw as a looming crisis.
Graduation rate review causes frustration: Monday, May 11, 2009; The plot and players were familiar as Clark County School District officials trotted out a PowerPoint presentation and examples of initiatives aimed at addressing the dropout problem and low graduation rate.
Ready for the coming cuts: With tough budget choices behind them and lawmakers eyeing a kinder cut than expected, school officials find themselves out in front of crisis; Wednesday, May 6, 2009; Clark County school officials aren’t recoiling from the news that the Legislature wants to cut school district budgets by an amount equal to 4 percent of teachers’ pay.
Hundreds of support staff to learn of layoffs this week: Sunday, May 3, 2009; Nearly 600 letters will be mailed Monday to Clark County School District support employees, notifying them that their jobs will be eliminated for the 2009-10 academic year.
Suspect credits spur records probe at Western High: Thursday, April 30, 2009; The School District is investigating irregularities in the academic records of 32 Western High School seniors to determine whether they were given credit for classes they didn’t take, district officials confirmed to the Sun.
Dressing for success, not to impress: Schools make call on uniforms, and many are sold on them; Thursday, April 30, 2009; Some educators credit school uniforms with creating a safer learning environment, reducing competition and boosting student achievement. Critics argue there are no definitive studies linking school uniforms to improved academics.
Two teachers’ tutoring business is booming: Saturday, April 25, 2009; The No Child Left Behind law requires local school districts to set aside federal money for tutoring at-risk students at low-achieving campuses. The Clark County Education Association Community Foundation, a partner of the teachers union, is the district’s largest tutoring provider, with contracts totaling nearly $1.4 million so far this year.
Tutoring program not hitting its marks: Study of test scores finds little gain in math, no improvement in reading; Friday, April 24, 2009; A federally mandated after-school tutoring program, which has cost the state more than $20 million over five years, has had no effect on Clark County student achievement in reading while bringing slight gains in math, according to researchers. While noting that the researchers’ findings are not definitive, Keith Rheault, Nevada’s superintendent of public instruction, said the federal dollars spent on reading tutoring appear to have been “a waste of money,” which he intends to correct.
Local battles on teacher pay cuts will follow action in Carson City: Monday, April 20, 2009; The Legislature can order pay cuts for state workers, but local schoolteachers are a different story.
District plans less expensive replacement for tutoring: Program costs $2.5 million, serves 2,500 middling students; Monday, April 20, 2009; When Karla Barajas moved from Mexico to Las Vegas four years ago, she struggled with English.
School built in boom must adapt in bust: Foreclosures have shrunk Liberty High’s enrollment, forcing cuts in jobs, programs; Friday, April 17, 2009; At a Liberty High School staff meeting in February, Principal Rosalind Gibson delivered the bad news: Budget cuts would eliminate nine teaching positions at the school, one from each department. The final decision wouldn’t be made until April, but Gibson wanted to give teachers as much notice as possible. The staff cuts, the second round this school year at Liberty, cap a challenging year for the school, which like other Clark County campuses has faced budget shortfalls. But as a school serving a once-growing neighborhood, Liberty has been hit harder than most by the downturn.
School District must cut another $19.9 million: Tuesday, April 14, 2009; With property tax revenues expected to decline even more sharply than earlier estimates, the Clark County School District must trim another $19.9 million from its operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
Stimulus money isn’t coming easy: Nevada is among states struggling to satisfy conditions for funding; Monday, April 13, 2009; Nevada isn’t the only state struggling with how to qualify for hundreds of millions of federal stimulus dollars for education.
Sharon Dattoli: Zoning and Demographics Director for the Clark County School District; Wednesday, April 8, 2009; The redrawing of public school attendance boundaries is an annual event in Clark County.
The stimulus chase: Millions in federal funding for K-12 and higher education is available, but Nevada risks losing it all for both if it won’t boost investment in one; Wednesday, April 8, 2009; Nevada’s public schools stand to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in federal stimulus money because of a largely overlooked twist in the funding guidelines. A significant chunk of the stimulus money that would go to K-12 schools is tied to the fate of Nevada’s higher education system.
Animal breeders, activists clash over bills: Sides agree on goal of reducing euthansia, but that’s as far as it goes; Monday, April 6, 2009; Everyone involved in the debate over regulating the treatment of pets in Nevada agrees too many dogs and cats end up abandoned in shelters. That’s about where the agreement ends. As lawmakers consider several pieces of legislation aimed at reducing the animal euthanasia rate, animal advocacy groups and purebred fanciers are locked in a fight. In mass e-mails, pet breeders claim animal rights activists are using legislation as a step toward an outright ban on pet ownership. Animal groups say purebred enthusiasts refuse to acknowledge the crisis that has led to tens of thousands of dogs and cats being euthanized.