By VERNON ROBISON
Moapa Valley Progress
The principals of the rural schools across the Clark County School District (CCSD) now have a new supervisor and advocate in the CCSD central office. Last month, long-time CCSD principal Jeff Hybarger was appointed as the supervisor of the district’s rural performance zone.
The rural zone was created in May of 2014 to address the unique needs of rural schools throughout the district. The announcement was lauded by local education advocates who had fought many years for unique treatment of the rural schools scattered throughout an increasingly urban-focused district.
Over the past year, the post of rural zone supervisor has been filled by former Moapa Valley resident, Dave Wilson. But this year, Wilson has returned to his role as principal, this time at Eldorado High School in Las Vegas. So last month, Hybarger stepped up to fill the spot.
Hybarger is not a complete stranger to rural schools, nor to Moapa Valley. In 2003 he became the principal at Grant Bowler Elementary School in Logandale. He served there for about a year and a half before moving to another assignment.
“I have such fond memories of my time at Bowler,” Hybarger said last week in an interview with the Progress. “It is a great school with great kids and such a fantastic community.”
Hybarger is a 20 year veteran at the CCSD. He began in 1994 as an elementary school teacher. After several years of that, and earning a masters degree in Educational Leadership, he entered the world of school administration by becoming an Assistant Principal at Guy Elementary School in Las Vegas. He later moved to serve in the same position at Heckethorn Elementary School in Las Vegas. And it was from there that he would be appointed to be the Bowler principal.
Hybarger said that after his year and a half at Bowler, he had no intentions of making a change. But in 2005, an opportunity came up to be the principal of a completely new elementary school in Las Vegas.
“Goynes was a brand new school at that time,” Hybarger said. “I thought it would be exciting to be able to open a new school from the ground up. So I made the change.”
He made the move in the middle of the school year of 2005. Hybarger has stayed there at Goynes for the past ten years.
“It was an incredibly enriching experience to be there as a leader over the years,” Hybarger said. “And again, I had no intention of leaving there. But when this position came up this summer, I decided to interview for it.”
The first adjustment Hybarger has had to make for the new position is the amount of travel required. Though the zone includes only twelve schools, it is huge in its geography. Included in the zone are the schools of Laughlin, Sandy Valley, Goodsprings, Indian Springs, Mount Charleston, Moapa Valley and Virgin Valley.
“I’ve really had to coordinate how to be in the various areas that I need to be,” Hybarger said. “But one thing in my favor is that I am an early riser. So I get up early and just get on the road.”
Hybarger said that he has spent the first few weeks talking to the rural principals and getting a handle on what the needs of the school are.
“I have found that every rural school has very unique needs,” he said. “Not just unique compared to urban schools, but also unique compared to each other. Each community is just completely different. And I have felt strongly that a lot of my role is to just understand that uniqueness better and be able to represent it back to the central district staff so we can address problems and fill the needs.”
Hybarger emphasized that a lot of his job involves just listening closely to administrators and members of the communities. In that regard, the Moapa Valley Community Education Advisory Board (MVCEAB) provides a ready mechanism to plug into the local community, he said.
“The MVCEAB has been tremendously effective over the years in conveying concerns of the community to the district,” Hybarger said. “I just think that work is imperative. So I plan to be fully engaged with that committee; to listen and do all I can to consider questions and concerns of the local residents.”
