School Board will select temporary District E representative

Northwest Las Vegas residents won't be without a Clark County School Board member for much longer.

The seat vacated by the June 19 resignation of John Cole, who moved to Denver for work, will be temporarily filled before the November election. The remaining six School Board members decided Thursday to immediately appoint a replacement, who would represent District E for the rest of 2012.

Otherwise, the seat would remain empty until the newly elected official started in January.

"We would be remiss to leave the seat vacant … for five months," senior board member Carolyn Edwards said.

Cole recommended before he left that a replacement be appointed despite the short time remaining in the term. His reason was the same as the one given by District E board candidate James Clinton, who spoke at the board's Thursday meeting. There's a lot of work to be done.

The Clark County School District is in talks with the Clark County Education Association, which represents teachers, for a 2012-13 contract. Last year's negotiations ended in arbitration, with a decision requiring the district to continue paying teacher raises. That forced the district to cut 1,000 positions to absorb the cost, according to Superintendent Dwight Jones. The district also is trying to sell voters on a six-year property tax increase to produce $720 million for school repairs and construction.

But the board must wait until July 19 before interviewing candidates for the temporary District E post. State law requires the board to advertise the position on June 24 and July 1 in the local newspaper. Applications then will be due by
4 p.m. July 13.

Contact reporter Trevon Milliard at tmilliard@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279.