Saturday, February 14, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

School district investigating concerns of ex-Agassi teachers

Teachers who've been fired or resigned from the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy publicly question whether the school is operating outside the laws addressing special education students, test security, and the expenditure of federal grants.

Their recently raised concerns are now the topic of an investigation by the Clark County School District, which monitors area charter schools and reports to the state.

Perry Rogers, chairman of Agassi's governing board, said the scrutiny is welcome. He is confident the inquiry will show Agassi meets all the standards under the law.

At this time, the Nevada Department of Education reports no findings of noncompliance involving the academy, which opened in 2001 and serves about 250 students in grades three to seven.

"I can't give you outcomes yet; we're still in the investigative process," said Craig Kadlub, who oversees charter schools on behalf of the district. "Some of the concerns raised are statutory, some are management issues. We can only deal with the statutory issues."

The investigation is the latest development in a growing display of unrest rooted in high teacher turnover and the concerns of a group of parents who do not support the school's administration under Principal Kim Allen or its treatment of students.

So far this year, at least eight teachers have been fired or have resigned, with another four part-time or substitute teachers doing the same. The school has 10 core teachers and five specialists.

The controversy has even seen former Agassi Special Education Director Christy George served with a written legal warning to stop making "defamatory statements" about the school and its supporting body, the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation.

The situation boiled over Thursday night at a parent meeting that was preceded by a protest by about 30 people in front of the school. The meeting was interrupted by an incident involving Marzette Lewis, a West Las Vegas activist who refused to leave the speakers' microphone and subsequently tussled with Las Vegas police officers who attempted to intervene. Lewis has two nephews who attend the school.

"I don't regret any of it," said Lewis on Friday. She said she was sore after being handcuffed and pushed into a wall. "If they did right at the school, none of this would have happened. But this is just the beginning. We're going to have more protests until kids and their teachers are treated right." Lewis was cited for battery of an officer and will have to make a court appearance in May.

Documents obtained by the Review-Journal indicate that complaints about Agassi made to the district include:

• Special education students are not being served according to their individual education plans, as required by federal law.

• Accurate records of school property and donations have not been maintained.

• Grant monies have been spent for reasons other than their intended use.

• Enrollment is being manipulated so that the population of special needs students remains low and the number of African-American students remains high.

• A couple of substitute teachers allowed students to use calculators on the math section of state-required basic skills testing in October.

George was among those who filed the reports.

"In my eight years of teaching, I've never seen anything like this," said George, who moved from Texas to work at Agassi last summer. "Someone has to say something."

Rogers said all the accusations are false. He said people need to look at what's actually going on at Agassi, not what former disgruntled employees are alleging.

The school, which has open enrollment and is located in a high poverty zone at 1201 W. Lake Mead Blvd., is outperforming other public schools in the same area.

Student test scores are solidly in the middle of the pack when compared to students across the nation. That is what has kept Agassi off the state watch list of low-performing schools, Rogers said.

The student selection process at Agassi is supervised by the Nevada Department of Education, Rogers said. And grant monies are spent only for their intended purposes and are audited regularly.

And while teacher turnover is high this year, district records show that other schools in the area, such as West-Edison Middle School, have much higher rates. In 2002-03, West's teacher turnover rate was 141 percent.

Despite the explosive meeting that took place Thursday, Rogers said that what happened on Friday was the most meaningful validation the school could have received.

"We didn't have any student withdrawals," Rogers said. "Parents are proving by their actions that they believe in what Kim Allen is doing."