Activists campaign for opponent at candidate’s school

Teachers union activists struck where School Board candidate Ron Taylor works Monday, waving campaign signs in support of his opponent for a Clark County School District leadership office.

Members of the Clark County Education Association held up signs for School Board District B candidate Chris Garvey outside Leavitt Middle School, located near Buffalo Drive and Lone Mountain Road. Taylor is a computer teacher at the northwest region school.

Taylor said the campaigners were acting inappropriately.

"You don't make a school campus into a battleground," Taylor said.

Garvey, a dental hygienist who has been endorsed by the education association, said she has no control over the organization and didn't ask them to campaign outside the middle school.

The school, located at 4701 Quadrel St., is within the contested campaign boundaries of School District B, which includes large areas of northern Clark County.

John Jasonek, the executive director of the union, said the intended audience was not Taylor but the parents bringing their children to school.

"This was not a protest against Ron Taylor," Jasonek said.

Leavitt Principal Shanna Mack said the activists did not disrupt school because they kept to the public sidewalk. She said there were just a "handful of campaigners" present.

Jasonek said the three to four campaigners were either off-duty from their work responsibilities or were retired teachers.

Taylor is an outspoken critic of the teachers union, accusing its leadership of being in "cozy collusion" with the district administration. The union contends that Taylor has tried to undermine the organization by trying to decertify the union.

Taylor is currently contesting the union's right to expel him from the organization in a case before the Local Government Employee Management Labor Relations Board.

Contact reporter James Haug at jhaug @reviewjournal.com or 702-799-2922.