School zoning issues heat up

The often heated issue of rezoning school boundaries is beginning to boil in several areas of the Las Vegas Valley.

At issue in one hotspot in Henderson: whether some students who now travel about two miles to Silverado High School should travel seven miles or more on gridlocked roads to attend the new Foothill High.

"They'll lose 10 hours a week (in transit)," said Silverado parent John Marino, who says that Foothill High is 14 miles from his home, while Silverado is about two. "That's 10 hours of homework time they'll spend on a bus. It's just too much of an inconvenience to go that far."

Rezoning involves re-drawing school attendance zones, effectively moving students from one school to another. More than 9,000 students had to change schools last year because of rezoning.

The district's Attendance Zone Advisory Commission, or AZAC, a volunteer panel of parents, has about a month to finalize attendance zones for the 1999 school year.

Officials rezone for two reasons: to stock newly opened buildings with students and to siphon students out of crowded schools into schools with more room. This year, officials will rezone to fill eight new schools that open in August.

Some parents dislike rezoning for transportation reasons. Others say the moves are traumatic for their children.

But school officials in the growing district are forced to wrestle with controversial, sometimes emotional, issue every year. Most of the work is done by AZAC, an 11-member panel that began meeting in September.

"A lot of people think you just draw lines down the major roads," said district demographer Dusty Dickens. "But kids just don't live that way."

AZAC members consider 13 criteria before they begin re-drawing school boundaries. Among them: projected growth rates, race and ethnic diversity, and how close students currently live to their neighborhood schools.

Panel members pore over county maps, looking for the most equitable way to move students from school to school.

"It's not easy," said AZAC member Vivian Kilarski. "But every student deserves to be in a school that is not overcrowded."

AZAC met Tuesday and discussed several proposals that would filter roughly 300 students out of Ruby Thomas Elementary School to nearby elementary schools. Thomas has about 1,170 pupils, making it one of the largest elementary schools in the district. The school has 11 portable classrooms with two more on the way.

Thomas assistant principal Danielle Miller often sees the crowding at her school seep into her office, which is occasionally used as a tiny classroom.

"We don't have one open room," Miller said. "We're utilizing every ounce of space."

Another area of zoning controversy surrounds the new school being completed in Henderson. AZAC members are agonizing over which students should go to the new school. Many parents at both Basic High School and Silverado would prefer their children stay put.

A whole new zoning controversy is likely to surface in 2001, when another south area high school is scheduled to open.

Ultimately, the School Board makes the final rezoning decisions. This year, the board likely will vote in early March on changes for the 1999 school year.

"There will be parents who are deeply disappointed," School Board president Ruth Johnson said. "But we are in a situation where not everybody can get what they want."

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