Monday, April 29, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
Asked about the merits of proposals to split the Clark County School District, School Board members insist they want to change for the better, not just change.
To date, Jeff Burr is the only board member who advocates a split, saying smaller is better because it would be more responsive to the needs of students and the input of parents.
"A large bureaucracy, like we have, just seems to disenfranchise people," Burr said of the nation's 10th largest school district. "At the very least, I could see us splitting into quadrants."
He also favors two proposals presented by independent consultants to a legislative committee studying the topic: splitting the district by municipality or by board member districts.
One problem is that smaller districts may not reflect socioeconomic conditions of the entire county. Lower property values in some rural and inner-city regions could hamper or restrict those districts from passing bonds for capital improvements.
Burr proposes designating a resort corridor encompassing the Las Vegas Strip properties and using a formula to distribute that tax base to all district's resulting from a split. But he said he's waiting on the final report to be delivered by the consultants in July, which will provide figures on the viability of a split.
Board member Judy Witt said she is worried that the consultants, Management Analysis and Planning Associates of Berkeley, Calif., have already made up their minds and are concocting a report based on preconceived notions. James Guthrie, a lead consultant on the team, which is being paid $300,000 for the study, has written articles advocating smaller school districts.
"There has been nothing to show me that the education of students will be better after doing this," Witt said.
Board member Susan Brager agreed. "The object is to make the education better, not just to make the district smaller."
Brager said she used to favor a split, but now thinks the district may be able to work more efficiently with a few refinements.
Other board members are certain a split will improve the quality of education for a few, but not the many.
"It cannot work. There is no way, in my opinion, that the district can be divided equitably," said board member Howard Hollingsworth. "I think some people want autonomy for their own convenience and they are not thinking of everyone."
Hollingsworth said the hotel properties may not want their tax base to fund school construction in Mesquite and Moapa Valley if the district were split.
Board President Larry Mason and member James McMillan have also opposed any splits. Both represent areas with high percentages of low-income and minority groups that they feel would be hurt by deconsolidation.
All board members contacted disagreed with a proposal to add more members to the board and were leery of a proposal to create districts along high school boundaries. Other options created a number of questions concerning how to divide the debt of past bond issues and how to fund future bond questions.
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