School zoning splits up sister act

This was supposed to be the year Danielle, Danica and Danae Ingwaldson had dreamed about.

It was supposed to be the year the three sisters would try to lead Sierra Vista High School's girls tennis team to a state title.

A dream, though, is all it probably will ever be.

Despite all being in high school and all being eligible to play varsity sports, the sisters aren't permitted to play on the same team because they aren't allowed to go to the same school.

Danielle, a senior, is set to graduate from Sierra Vista this year. Danica is a sophomore at Sierra Vista. Danae is forced to attend Liberty High School, the result of rezoning by the Clark County School District that has split up a tight-knit family.

"It was a dream," Danielle said. "Everybody always told us we could win state together. I don't see why she can't come with us."

"There were tears for all three of them," said Dick Ingwaldson, the girls' father.

The Ingwaldsons are among the city's top high school tennis players.

Danielle and Danica are the Lions' No. 1 and No. 2 singles players. Danae could have been the No. 3 singles player. She played with the team members during the summer before taking her talents to Liberty and becoming that school's top player.

Together, the sisters would have given Sierra Vista a shot at winning a state championship.

"They're in the upper echelon," said Bishop Gorman girls coach Craig Witcher, who gives the girls individual lessons. "All three of them can play in college. They all have that ability."

LOGISTICAL NIGHTMARE

Dick Ingwaldson is a single father who has raised his daughters alone since they were toddlers.

The family rents a house that was zoned for Sierra Vista, but overcrowding at the school and the opening of Liberty forced rezoning before this school year.

Danielle and Danica, who already were attending Sierra Vista, which is approximately five miles from their home, could continue to attend the school.

The family filed for a zone variance in March to allow Danae to at least attend school with her sisters, instead of going to Liberty about 10 miles away. Although the variance would not allow Danae to play because of district transfer rules, at least the three could spend more time together, including practicing together.

"I understand that the schools are overcrowded and the teachers are overworked," Dick Ingwaldson said. "I'm 100 percent behind the schools."

He got his daughters involved in tennis through the city's parks and recreation department but quickly realized the girls' talent in the sport could open doors.

"I'm not trying to build the Williams sisters," he said, referring to American stars Venus and Serena. "They're very talented, but they need private coaching, which I can't afford. There is a coach who gives them free lessons every day.

"This is something they need to get a chance at (in) life. This could help them get into and pay for college."

Up stepped Witcher, who has known the girls for several years and began allowing them to hit at the courts at Lorenzi Park, where he is a club professional.

"Almost every day they come out," Witcher said. "It's become difficult on the logistics, though. There are some days when they're missing out. You need coaching to give you that guidance, that direction."

Danielle finishes school just before 10 a.m. each day and drives home to pick up her father.

She drops him off at the Stratosphere, where he works as a bartender, then she heads to Lorenzi Park to hit tennis balls.

She returns to Sierra Vista to practice or participate in a match, then often drives to Liberty to pick up Danae before returning to the Stratosphere to pick up her father after his shift.

"I get out of school at 9:55 (a.m.) and I drive around until, like, 7 o'clock (p.m.)," Danielle said. "I don't really like to drive that much."

The wear and tear on the family is evident.

"When I'm at work and that phone rings at 5 (p.m.), my heart jumps," Dick Ingwaldson said. "I know they're on the highway. Because of the school district, my daughter is driving extra."

"She doesn't get to relax at all. She's always driving around," Danica said.

BONDS BROKEN

Since Danielle was a freshman, the girls have been coming to Sierra Vista's courts. The girls have developed bonds with teachers, some of whom have served as mother figures by taking them to doctor's appointments, helping to make sure they're on task at school or being there when the girls need to talk.

"They're great girls," Sierra Vista girls coach Arlene Kam said.

Danae no longer gets much of that guidance now that she attends Liberty. She doesn't see her sisters for much of the day, and while she's around many of the students who became her friends at Tarkanian Middle School, it's not quite the same.

"It's very disheartening to me," Kam said. "They're changing the path of these girls' lives. Yet, that didn't seem to matter."

NO EXCEPTIONS?

Dick Ingwaldson filed for a zone variance, seeking to have his daughters attend the same school.

Armed with notes from a doctor and a child psychologist, he attempted to show the variance would be in the girls' best interest.

No one would listen.

Denied at the school level and the Southwest Region level, he pressed on.

"They will not give me an answer," he said. "Psychologically, they need to be together. ... I don't see any caring from the upper echelon of our school district."

Dick Ingwaldson tried to buy a house earlier this year in an area zoned only for Sierra Vista. The deal fell through.

Danielle took summer classes and offered to finish her schooling at home to open up a seat for Danae. That didn't fly, either.

"We were told there were no exceptions. All the eighth-graders who went to Tarkanian had to go to Liberty," the father said.

Or did they?

The district's public information office said one student had been granted a zone variance and is attending Sierra Vista.

The Ingwaldsons think another student, a member of the boys tennis team, was granted a variance. That student would be ineligible to play in a varsity match because of the transfer rule.

"If you're going to play by the rules, then no one should be able to do it," Dick Ingwaldson said. "I don't have a problem with the children who got in, but I have a problem with these people for lying to me.

''It's a flat lie."

Southwest Region Superintendent Jolene Wallace said she couldn't speak about specific zone variance requests but said the district has a "sibling rule" that would allow the sisters to go to the same school. In this case, that would have been Liberty.

"The issue at Sierra Vista is out-and-out overcrowding," Wallace said. "They are 200 students over. There are 3,400 kids in that building. It's bursting at the seams.

"I would love to be able to let everyone go where they want to go, but we just can't."

Wallace sent a letter to the Ingwaldsons in April, telling the family she would request Danae be placed on a waiting list to be transferred to Sierra Vista after the school district's count day, which determines how many students are in each school.

Sierra Vista Principal Emil Wozniak declined to be interviewed. The school issued a statement: "Mr. Wozniak follows the guidelines of the Clark County School District in regards to zone variances."

Why a variance wasn't granted to the Ingwaldsons and why no one would tell them why their request wasn't granted is a mystery.

"I've never seen it before," Kam said. "I've never seen them not give a zone variance for something like this. There are exceptions to every rule, but they wouldn't even listen."

"If there were any zone variances granted, there would have to be some very good reasons," said Bill Garis, the school district's executive director of student activities and a former Sierra Vista principal.

LEARNING TO DEAL

Had the variance been granted, Danae would not have been eligible to compete at the varsity level in tennis this year.

"It would have been hard because I wouldn't have gotten to play much tennis ... but I would have been OK with it," she said.

At least the girls would be attending school together.

It could get more confusing next year with a new school set to open. The family might be rezoned again. It remains unclear where Danica and Danae will attend school after Danielle graduates.

Meanwhile, Danae continues on at Liberty.

"She has handled it really well," Liberty girls tennis coach Kih Gourrier said. "She's my best player. The good thing about it is she gets a chance to shine.

It's nice for her to be the star of the team and be a leader."

The two teams played each other on Aug. 30, but Gourrier shifted Danae to doubles, meaning the sisters didn't have to try to beat each other.

"It was hard, but they cheered each other on and cheered on their own teams," Kam said.

And they got to play on the same set of courts in what was supposed to be their dream season.