School Board applauds Skorkowsky plan to reorganize district

By Ian Whitaker

Thursday, Oct. 22, 2015 | 9:15 p.m.

School Board members tonight showered praise on a controversial plan by Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky to reorganize the Clark County School District.

It’s the latest development in what has become a complex political battle over what should happen to the nation’s fifth-largest school district, often criticized as being too top-heavy and slow to respond to problems in local schools.

The battle started earlier this year when the state Legislature passed Assembly Bill 394, which tasked an advisory committee of politicians with coming up with a plan to split up the district in time for the 2018-19 school year.

Skorkowsky detailed his plan last week during the committee’s first ever meeting.

The plan, which Skorkowsky claims can be implemented as early as next year, is a radical reorganization of the district into seven “instructional precincts” that would report to Skorkowsky yet retain much of the decision-making authority currently wielded by the district’s central office.

The precincts would be based off the current borders for the seven School Board districts, and would each feature a number of committees staffed by local politicians, parents, teachers and support staff.

Large-scale services like transportation and food service would still be handled by the central office, but precincts would have greater control over the district’s purse strings to fund programs local leaders think are important.

Skorkowsky’s plan surprised many, including Republican state Sen. Michael Roberson, who chairs the nine-member advisory committee. In interviews with local media, he criticized Skorkowsky for moving forward with his own plan before lawmakers have delved into the issue.

But School Board members on Thursday night were much friendlier to Skorkowsky’s proposal, many of whom see it as a good starting point going into what promises to be contentious political negotiations.

“Nobody else put out a rough draft,” said School Board member Erin Cranor. “I appreciate that the superintendent was willing to do that.”

“I don’t see a fatal flaw,” she added, “I see great possibilities.”

“For me, this is an example of how the board and superintendent has been listening to our community,” said board member Chris Garvey. “I can’t even fathom why anyone would be begging to have Carson City decide our fate.”

The only slightly critical comments came from board member Linda Young, who said she supported the plan but wanted to give community members more time to give feedback.

Some of those community members showed up, including Stephen Augspurger, president of the district administrator’s union, and Yvette Williams, chairwoman of the Clark County Black Caucus.

“If this is an effort that will be implemented with an aggressive timeline, I’m absolutely opposed to it,” said Augspurger. “This was put together with absolutely not one ounce of input from anyone else.”

Talking through tears, an emotional Williams expressed concerns about the effect a reorganization would have on the district’s programs designed to assist low-income and minority students.

“I’m very concerned that if these schools are swallowed up into these regions, [it] would be just another failed experiment,” she said. “Are we willing to risk this group of kids who we worked so hard for?”

Skorkowsky acknowledged the criticism, but said the plan would put district services and resources closer to communities.

“We have a lot of work to do as a district to ensure we are keeping this about the students and the schools and not about the adult issues,” he said.

The AB394 advisory committee and its companion technical committee, made up of education leaders and community members, will meet again to discuss a breakup of CCSD in November.