Congestion at schools to be examined

It takes 20 minutes or more for parents to navigate the congested Wright Elementary School parking lot when they pick up their children after school.

Some drivers create a second lane by cutting through a vacant gravel lot that parallels the southwest valley school's exit onto Gomer Road just east of Durango Drive.

Things have gotten so bad that Wright Principal Carol Erbach acts as a crossing guard and helps direct traffic with a stop sign.

"Every little bit helps," parent Antonio Ramos said. "If no one was out there, it would really be like the wild, wild West."

But Suzan Smith, mother of 10-year-old student Emily, still worries that someone will be hurt in the vehicular crush.

"The heavy traffic really does create a dangerous situation," Smith said. "People get frustrated; they want to get out because they have been waiting here forever. It wasn't this way when (Wright) was a year-round school."

On Tuesday, the Clark County School Board will review what trustees Terri Janison and Sheila Moulton have called an egg-on-their-face embarrassment: the board's decision to switch all 76 year-round elementary schools to nine-month calendars this year, something that has led to crowding problems at 22 campuses that now exceed their normal building capacities by 36 percent or more.

The crowded campuses used to distribute enrollment over rotating 12-month schedules. They now must accommodate all students at the same time under the Clark County School District's regular nine-month calendar.

Wright, 8425 Bob Fisk Ave., was built to accommodate 759 students. It now enrolls 1,093 students.

Hewetson Elementary School, 701 N. 20th St., near Eastern Avenue, was built for 661 students. It has 962 students this year.

Ira Earl Elementary School, 1463 Marion Drive, near Lamb Boulevard and Owens Avenue, was meant to accommodate 542 students but now enrolls 889 students. Space is so tight at the school that it is using a portable classroom as an additional lunchroom.

Other elementary schools that are 36 percent or more over normal building capacity are Beckley, Bell, Clyde Cox, Craig, Crestwood, Culley, Dearing, Dondero, Fong, Gilbert, Goldfarb, McDoniel, Mendoza, Lake, Long, Lynch, Roberts, Ronzone and Woolley.

Some School Board members and district officials had said the overcapacity percentages might be misleading because the Legislature allowed the district to increase class sizes for grades 1-3, and schools can accommodate the increased enrollment with portable classrooms. Wright has 14 portable classrooms this year.

But while schools can use portables to alleviate classroom space demands, handling traffic congestion, the shortage of restrooms and the overall lack of elbow room are more problematic.

"The hallways didn't become bigger," said Stephen Augspurger, executive director of the Clark County Association of School Administrators and Professional-technical Employees.

Augspurger thinks the board's April decision to make the calendar change was a "politically expedient" way to save the district about $15 million during a budget crisis.

While planning for the current school year in March, district officials were faced with a revenue shortfall of $83 million because of reductions in state funding and declining revenues from property taxes.

Parents at that time supported the opportunity to put all schools on the nine-month schedule, which saved the district money on employee pay and resources.

Despite the hassles, Ramos, the father of two Wright students, prefers the nine-month calendar. It's easier on families to have children on the same school schedule, he said.

Before mandating the change, the School Board had ordered staff to assess each school situation individually. Lauren Kohut-Rost, the district's deputy superintendent for academics, and the four area or region superintendents came back with a recommendation for all schools to go to the nine-month schedule.

Augspurger and parent Kevinn Donovan said School Board President Janison should not be surprised by the crowding problems: Both raised concerns about that issue at meetings in March and April.

Some district officials acknowledge that principals were under pressure not to oppose such a popular move.

"I think certain trustees feel principals were persuaded because it was a situation where the cost savings would not be applicable if all schools did not convert," said Rick Baldwin, the acting director for school zoning, during a recent meeting of the district's Attendance Zone Advisory Commission.

Baldwin feels torn by mixed messages from School Board members.

"We have certain trustees saying one thing and other trustees opposing what they're saying," Baldwin said at the Zone Advisory Commission meeting. "It's really tying our hands. I feel like we're being pushed and pulled."

Janison has said she wants to stick to a two-year commitment to nine-month school calendars to avoid "flip-flopping."

Board Vice President Carolyn Edwards, who represents the southwest district zone that includes Wright, wants to see what options the board has to provide relief.

Barbara Moody, chairman of the Zone Advisory Commission, said the frustration arises from a "lot of unknowns." Because of the depressed economy, it is difficult to predict population growth or school funding levels.

Moulton said the district must be creative to "get out of this pickle."

She has suggested expanding middle schools to include fifth grade to relieve elementary schools or taking advantage of the former Bishop Gorman High School property that the district owns on Maryland Parkway.

Others said the district must address crowding on a case-by-case basis and stop trying to find a one-size-fits-all solution.

In spite of the down economy, Wright serves an area of the county where population has been growing, Baldwin said. Real estate signs advertise housing bargains all over the community known as Mountain's Edge.

To cope with the situation, Wright has stopped taking new students. Since the start of the school year, sixteen students have been redirected to nearby Fine Elementary School, 6635 Cougar Ave., on the other side of busy Blue Diamond Road.

Fine students from the Wright attendance zone are bused to Fine from Wright's school parking lot.

Even with the relief measures being taken, Ramos still worries about the complications. He wonders whether his two boys, Nico, 7, and Brandon, 9, have enough time to eat because the school has to shuffle so many students through the cafeteria.

"They're kids," Ramos said. "They don't understand this is lunchtime and they don't have time to goof around."

Contact reporter James Haug at jhaug@reviewjournal.com or 702-374-7917.