Locals Plead The Cause For Better Security At MVHS

A group of Moapa Valley residents travelled to Las Vegas on Thursday, November 15 to make a plea to Clark County School District (CCSD) officials for added security measures on the Moapa Valley High School campus.

The group, consisting of MVHS administrators and members of the School Organization Team (SOT), made a series of public comments at a meeting of CCSD Bond Oversight Committee, a group that oversees capital improvement spending for the district.

The MVHS item was not on the agenda for the meeting. Thus, the local group was only able to make their pleas during the meeting’s opening period for public comment. Each speaker was allotted two minutes to speak.

MVHS principal Hal Mortensen began with an overview of the community’s concerns. Mortensen brought several photos of the campus which depicted some of the key security weak spots at the school.
“As you can see, our campus is wide open,” Mortensen said. “Our central quad area, for example, is completely open. You can drive a vehicle right onto the middle of our campus!”

With a number of classrooms and the gymnasiums being accessed directly from that central quad, Mortensen said that as many as 200 kids may be exposed to security risks at any time during the school day.

Mortensen pointed out that the same problem exists at Virgin Valley High School, which has a nearly identical floor plan to MVHS. He proposed that both schools were in need of the proposed security updates.

In another comment, Logandale resident and SOT member Larry Moses introduced himself as a retired CCSD administrator. Moses was principal of MVHS when the current building was constructed.
“That open concept was wonderful 30 years ago,” Moses said. “But today that is an entirely different situation.”

Moses related that, before travelling to Las Vegas that morning, he had stopped in at MVHS. As he did, he had noted that he could have walked unnoticed onto any part of the campus. Walking into the office, he had been greeted, not by any signs of security, but by two very friendly high school girls.
“They were very cordial and welcoming,” Moses said, “but that is maybe not the safest concept.”

Moses explained that the SOT had worked with local Metro officers to complete a vulnerability report on the campus. There were several findings of weakness, Moses said.

Based on that report, MVHS administrators had recently consulted with a CCSD contractor to determine the cost of making the needed improvements. That cost had come back at around $78,000. The SOT had then made a request to CCSD that capital funding be used to make the improvements, Moses said.
“We were told that, if we wanted it, we would have to pay for it out of our instructional budget,” Moses said.

“They were treating it like we were asking for an enhancement to the school. We should be clear that this is not an enhancement, it is a necessity. It should not come from instructional funds.”

Logandale parent and SOT member Erika Whitmore said that security issues are the number one issue discussed in every SOT meeting. “It is a big concern to our community,” she said.
“There is no way, under the current funding system, that we have instructional money for this,” Whitmore said. “So we are asking you to take a serious look at this as a security issue, to be proactive and keep our kids safe.”

MVHS Assistant Principal Tony Polzein pointed out that $78,000 was a small amount in the realm of the CCSD capital budget. But it was insurmountable in the realm of the slim MVHS instructional budget.
“Simply put, we just can’t do it with the funding that we are allotted,” Polzein said.

Polzein acknowledged that it is the task of the Bond Oversight Committee to watch over capital expenditures and see that they are spent in the most advantageous way for the district.
“It is a good thing to be conservative about funding,” he said. “But as soon as just one kid gets hurt, then this could become a much bigger problem than funding.”

Bond Oversight Committee Chairwoman Eleissa Lavelle thanked those who spoke for travelling and providing input. But the item was not discussed in the meeting or put on a future agenda.

In an interview after the meeting, Moapa Valley Community Education Advisory Board (MVCEAB) Chairwoman Shari Lyman said that local education advocates would not be giving up on the matter.
“We have been through the process with the Bond Oversight Committee and with approaching the trustees and been met with silence and a lack of concern,” Lyman said. “But the message needs to go out that if something bad should happen in our schools after all of this, CCSD’s liability will be considerable.”

Lyman said that most schools across the district were either built with security precautions in place or have received security and safety updates. The outlying schools of Moapa Valley and Virgin Valley are the exceptions to that, she said.

“For CCSD staff to expect the funding for these essential capital expenses to come out of our site budget is both egregious and offensive,” Lyman said. “They need to take this responsibility seriously and be accountable. Our kids, teachers, support staff and administrators are just as valuable as the urban kids are.”

MVCEAB will be meeting at 9:30 am on Friday, December 7 in the Quarter Deck at Moapa Valley High School to discuss this security issue. Ranking members of the CCSD safety committee have been invited to attend.

“This meeting will be a good opportunity for parents and community members to come and share concerns on this matter,” Lyman said.