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March 28, 2024 10:53 pm
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MVCEAB Makes Another Push For Local Autonomy

By VERNON ROBISON

Moapa Valley Progress

A panel of elected officials and administrators attended the meeting of the Moapa Valley Community Education Advisory Board on Friday last week. Pictured l to r Assemblyman James Oscarson, State Senator Pete Goicoechea, Assemblyman Cresent Hardy, CCSD Superintendent Pat Skorkowski, CCSD Trustee Chris Garvey, MTAB Chairman Craig Wolfley and Commissioner Tom Collins. PHOTO BY VERNON ROBISON/Moapa Valley Progress.

Local education advocates stressed the importance of retaining state and local control over decisions about education during a meeting of the Moapa Valley Education Advisory Board (MVCEAB) held on Friday morning in the Moapa Valley High School library.

The meeting was well attended with over 50 people from the community in the audience. Also in attendance were several Nevada State legislators representing Moapa Valley including State Senators Joe Hardy and Pete Goicoechea as well as Assemblymen Cresent Hardy and James Oscarson. From the Clark County School District (CCSD), Superintendent Pat Skorkowski was in attendance as well as CCSD School Board Trustee Chris Garvey. County Commissioner Tom Collins also attended.

The first item on the agenda dealt with the district’s procedures regarding the selection of principals in rural schools.

MVCEAB member Lindsey Dalley reviewed several administrative changes which recently occurred in local schools. In a period of a couple of months, three of the four local schools hired new principals, he said. In the case of the selection of administrators at the high school and the middle school, community members were given an opportunity to give input in those decisions, Dalley said. But in the case of Perkins Elementary, the Moapa community was not given the same consideration.

“As a MVCEAB member, I was embarrassed that we dropped the ball on that,” Dalley said. “We have fought long and hard for local autonomy in our schools. Moapa should have had the same opportunity for feedback.”

Moapa Town Advisory Board chairman Craig Wolfley emphasized to the board how important it is that school administrators are committed to be a part of the local communities where they serve.

“In my mind, that makes the difference in whether a school works or doesn’t work,” Wolfley said. “In a rural area, we are different from other areas. Things that work well in Las Vegas, don’t work so well out here. And things that work here probably wouldn’t fly in Las Vegas. An administrator needs to be able understand the community and to recognize those differences.”

Superintendent Pat Skorkowski said that he understood the rural differences. He grew up in a small town of 1,200 people in rural Oklahoma. This gave him a strong background in the differences of rural lifestyles, he said.

“This summer we had an oversight,” Skorkowski said. “We do have a regular procedure of asking for public input in these situations and it didn’t happen in this case. I didn’t know that it had not happened at Perkins until it was too late. But it will happen in the future. That’s an easy fix and it will be taken care of.”

“But I will tell you that an amazing person got the job,” Skorkowski added, referring to new Perkins principal Mary Scialabba. “She understands instruction, she understands education, and she understands rural.”

MVCEAB members expressed a desire for a CCSD policy which would formalize the idea of local feedback into principal selection at rural schools. Dalley suggested that such a policy should include two elements: first that principals should be part of the rural community where they will be serving; and second, that rural positions not be allowed to become mere stepping stones toward higher administrative positions in Las Vegas.

Skorkowski said that while he agreed with the concept of principals holding a stake in the communities where they serve, he could not dictate where CCSD employees decide to live and make their home.

“But in the selection process, I do ask specific questions about how candidates are going to assimilate as part of the community and how they will ensure that the community has access to them as the school administrator,” Skorkowski said.

Skorkowski also stated that, when hiring a principal, he expects the candidates to commit to the school for 3-5 years.

Finally, Dalley pointed out that while CCSD is the largest urban school district in the state, it is also the largest rural district. He suggested that the rural areas of the district be administered together and treated as the unique communities that they are, rather than being lumped in with the urban schools.

“I’d like you to consider forming a rural performance zone and allowing one academic manager, familiar with rural issues, to supervise all of the rural schools,” he said.

MVHS principal Rod Adams agreed with the idea. He attends training meetings each month with other administrators in his performance zone, but none of those are rural schools, he explained. Instead rural areas of the district are divided up into different zones.

“Virgin Valley and Boulder City and us are each placed in a different zone,” Adams said. “I think that more could be accomplished if we were working together and had communication lines open between us. After all, I don’t have much in common with Cheyenne High School (Las Vegas) who is in my zone. We just don’t have much to talk about.”

Skorkowski said that he was open to the idea of grouping rural schools together. In fact the district could start an informal rural group immediately where rural administrators could get together and discuss issues in common, he said. While changing the more formal CCSD performance zones might take a bit more time than that, Skorkowski said that he was willing to look at that idea as well, possibly for the next school year.

With that the board shifted to the next item on the agenda which dealt with the controversial subject of the Common Core educational standards.

The Common Core is an initiative to create a rigorous set of academic standards that are uniform from one state to another. The Governors of 45 states, including Nevada, have already adopted the standards. Local districts are now being required to develop methods of meeting those standards.

But many opponents fear that these standards will erode the traditional American principle of local and state control over education. These general concerns have been raised by local parents as well.

“Our country is based on checks and balances,” said Logandale parent Erika Whitmore in the meeting. “The fact that the Common Core was adopted by the Governors getting together and making the decision without the people having a voice; it is a little concerning to me. In the 10th Amendment, the State retains certain powers; including over education. We don’t want to give up that power.”

MVCEAB chairwoman Cindy McMurray expressed concerns that Common Core could open the door to curriculum in local schools being controlled by national special interests.

“I am concerned about the demoralizing of America,” McMurray said. “For example, the manipulation of Social Studies curriculum. We don’t like it. But once it gets in there, it is almost impossible to get out. The Common Core documents say that it takes 4-5 years to make changes to the standards. My kids are in school right now. In 4-5 years, it will be too late.”

Skorkowski explained that the Common Core standards did not mandate curriculum or materials. That was left up to the states and local districts. Skorkowski also emphasized that, while Nevada had adopted the Math and English areas of Common Core, the standards in Social Studies had not been adopted and was not slated to be adopted.

Local parent Jamie Jackson stated that most people don’t have an issue with the standards, per se. Rather opponents are concerned with the political manner in which the Common Core has been implemented.

“I love that standards have gone up,” Jackson said. “But I object to what we have signed on to through Race to the Top (federal grant funding) and taking all these federal bribesl that we are being required to adhere to Common Core whether we like it or not. And if we don’t like it, and we want to change it, well it takes 4-5 years to do that. I just don’t want the federal government to decide. I oppose all the baggage that comes with Common Core.”

Skorkowski responded that the CCSD does not have control over the political motivation behind Common Core.

“It was adopted by the State Board of Education and I am required by law to go with it,” Skorkowski said. “I understand the frustrating political process that has gotten us here. Unfortunately, I can’t fix it. But I will tell you that these standards are good standards for instruction. They hold up on the state, national and global levels.”

Mack Lyon Middle School English Teacher Dennis Jarrell spoke in favor of the Common Core Standards. He emphasized that the Common Core does not include specific curriculum. That is left up to the local schools and teachers.

“When we developed our curriculum at the Middle School, the teachers got together to make the decisions on what materials we would be using,” Jarrell said.

He explained that the Common Core standards presented significant challenges for teachers. The lack of adopted text materials made it challenging for teachers to come up with the curriculum. In addition, the high rigour of the Common Core standards are frightening to many teachers, he said.

“That may be the part of the resistance for some teachers,” Jarrell said. “Up to now, the students have been operating down here but these new Common Core standards are way up here. That’s scary because I worry that my students won’t meet those standards unless I up my game. And that is what we have to do.”

Jarrell entreated the board to separate the politics of Common Core from the academic standards.

“I came today, ready to argue pedagogy and we are arguing politics here,” he said. “I feel like it is being politicized based on things that are not even inside the document. I think that we need to deal with the standards as standards and deal with the politics as politics.”

“If you want local control over curriculum, talk to us about the content,” Jarrell continued. “That is where the decisions are made and that is where your effect is. The teachers are here. I’m part of this community, you see me at the store and wherever. That is where most of my parent teacher conferences take place. Talk to me about it, that is where your power lies.”

“We want to be able to exert that kind of local control at the teacher level,” said Dalley. “That is what we are about. But the fear is that eventually we will be sitting here and you will be telling us that you have no choice but to teach it a certain way; that it is being mandated what you teach from somewhere else. I think that is what the fear is.”

“I understand what you are saying and I don’t disagree,” said Skorkowski. “I am a big believer in state and local control and we cannot afford to give up control and have a cookie-cutter approach instituted here. Every school, every community is different. And if it were to happen that we were to lose that control, believe me, I would be the first to rally the troops. I’d be here asking for your support in fighting the battle on that one.”

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