Sandoval offers to meet with Clark County School District, teachers union

CARSON CITY - Gov. Brian Sandoval offered Wednesday to meet personally with the Clark County teachers union and school district administration to help resolve a dispute that has prevented the district from applying for a $40 million federal education grant.

Clark County School District officials and leaders of the Clark County Education Association agreed late Wednesday to meet, though the governor has not yet scheduled the session.

Sandoval said he spoke with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and was told the Race To The Top grant application deadline has been extended until Friday because of Hurricane Sandy, which has devastated parts of the Northeast.

School officials said Tuesday that they were prevented from applying for the grant because of the union's refusal to sign off on it.

"It is important we take advantage of every opportunity to provide much-needed relief to our schools and our children and I urge the Clark County Education Association to reconsider its position and work with the school district on Clark County's application," Sandoval said in a statement.

"If necessary, I will personally meet with CCEA and the School District to get this done for our children."

Ellen Holmes, director of professional learning for the teachers union, said union officials would gladly meet with the governor and the school district but only if it is in the "true spirit of genuine collaboration."

She gave no indication that a meeting will be held before the 1:30 p.m. Friday application deadline.

The grant the school district wants would be for digital tools to help individual students with learning needs and to evaluate school staff members. Sandoval said that the money could be used also to hire teachers and that the technology the district receives would help English language learners catch up.

Amanda Fulkerson, a school district spokeswoman, said Tuesday that the union was invited to seven meetings on the grant application and never showed up.

But Holmes said they only were invited to approve what the school district wanted in the application, not as a co-equal in preparing the document. The application rules clearly say the union must be given a full and equal role in application preparation, she said.

"They made invitations for us to come and see their presentation, come and watch us talk before the School Board, but it wasn't 'lets work together to help the struggling students,' " Holmes said. "It was instead 'here is what we built, don't you like it? ' "

Fulkerson said district officials want to meet with the governor and union in a move to beat the new deadline to submit the application.

"At this point we wait to hear back from the governor's office," she said. "We are absolutely open to a meeting."

But Fulkerson said Holmes' contention that the teachers union was not offered a co-equal role was "unfounded."

"Over 1,600 teachers showed up and gave feedback before the application was in its final stages," she said.

Under former Gov. Jim Gibbons, the state applied in 2010 for and was denied a Race to the Top grant. A statewide committee of educators, union members and prominent citizens had worked for months on that application.

The current competition for $400 million grants is between school districts, with maximum prizes of $40 million.

A similar dispute is preventing the school district in Los Angeles from applying for a Race to the Top grant.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901. Review-Journal writer Milliard contributed to this report.