Schools improvising in bid to save more money

Like Clark County, school districts across the country are strapped for cash and improvising ways to save money.

Many smaller and rural districts are adopting four-day school weeks to save transportation and infrastructure costs, said Daniel Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators.

Domenech is in Las Vegas for the Council of Urban Boards of Education convention, which meets this weekend at the Renaissance Hotel.

The Clark County School District also has considered a four-day week, said Superintendent Walt Rulffes.

But Nevada law would preclude a shortened week because of length-of-school-year requirements, he said. The idea also would be impractical because it would extend the school day to the peak times of day for air conditioning use.

Still, Rulffes said, the four-day week could be a serious consideration for Clark County's rural schools in the future.

The county already is following another trend to increase efficiency by offering more classes online. The district will officially open a virtual high school in February.

Rulffes said online classes provide more chances for students to take subjects for which there is a shortage of teachers, such as math and science.

Domenech, a former school superintendent for Fairfax, Va., and personal friend of Carlos Garcia, Clark County's previous superintendent, acknowledged the stress placed on school systems because of underfunding and greater demands for accountability.

Because an average of 7,000 students drop out of school each day in the United States, Domenech said that the nation's educational system is in a crisis much like Wall Street's and is also worthy of a government bailout.

Educators would like to see graduation rates become one of the standards for evaluating a school's performance, he said.

He identified the "three Rs" for improving graduation rates: relevance, or helping students understand the importance of education; rigor, or making sure students are keeping up with their education and becoming literate; and relationships, or making sure students have parents or mentors active in their education.

Domenech also advocated for smaller and specialized schools, such as performing and vocational arts schools or military academies, as a way to engage students' interests.

Rulffes said he also believes in this approach because magnet and vocational schools have the best academic performance and least discipline issues.

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