Candidates unsure of where voter emotions might swing on CCSD reorganization

Depending on which candidate you ask, Southern Nevada voters are terrified of a recently approved plan to reorganize the Clark County School District.

Or they love it and can’t wait for it to happen as soon as possible.

Or they have no idea what you’re talking about.

It’s unclear whether the general election will register any blowback from the recent approval of the reorganization plan, what with no pro- or anti-candidate campaigns having yet emerged. Still, voters have shared a wide range of emotions with candidates who knock on their door.

Deanna Wright said she’s heard everything from fear and anxiety to confusion and uncertainty from principals, school staff and parents alike.

She’s running for a third and final four-year term to District A on the Clark County School Board. Her southeast district includes Henderson, which provided some of the most vocal proponents of a reorganization. The final plan, which goes into effect August 2017, strips power from the district’s central administration and shifts control to individual communities.

“Principals are afraid they’ll get the same few parents they get volunteering for everything,” Wright said.

Meanwhile, “a lot of people are very concerned about principals going rogue,” she added. “Some of these people out here think they won’t have to teach sex (education) anymore.”

That’s certainly not the case, but to Wright, the misconception suggests communities that fought so hard for more local control may be disappointed in the final result.

Exhibit A: Moapa Valley, where families long have clamored for a clean split from the sprawling district.

State lawmakers made it clear more than a year ago that wouldn’t happen. Still, they handed rural residents an olive branch by allowing local government authorities to appoint a representative to a hiring committee that selects superintendents who oversee up to 25 schools each.

Cities such as Henderson and Las Vegas likely will exercise that power. But Clark County commissioners, fearing they would “politicize” the hiring process, voted unanimously to abdicate that responsibility.

Their decision effectively prevents residents in rural and unincorporated communities from having a say in who supervises their neighborhood schools.

“They were very much for the reorganization because they want as much autonomy as they can get,” said Mark Newburn, District 4 incumbent on the State Board of Education.

He seeks a second term to represent constituents in eight counties, including Moapa Valley and most of northern Clark County.

“They’ve become really frustrated with the Clark County School District and they’re really distrustful,” Newburn said.

It’s uncertain whether state officials can convince the commissioners to reconsider that vote.

Patrice Tew, who represents the northwest District E on the local school board, indicated a small minority of voters actually care about the reorganization.

She said it’s probably too early for the overhaul — which only cleared a final legal hurdle Sept. 9 — to have an impact on education races in Southern Nevada.

“This is going to be very much a dynamic, growing, changing organism,” Tew said, “because there’s just so many unanswered questions.”

On Education appears every other Saturday.

Contact Neal Morton at nmorton@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279. Follow @nealtmorton on Twitter.