Two school closings weighed

Parents at the Mount Charleston public school under threat of closure don't want their young children spending three hours on a bus every day, riding to and from a school in Indian Springs.

Clark County School Board President Terri Janison, who represents the rural community, agrees with their point. But Clark County School District staff faced with dwindling state revenues are recommending closing both Lundy Elementary School on Mount Charleston and Goodsprings Elementary School near the California border because the cost of operating the rural campuses in a time of increasing economic distress is difficult to justify.

It's an issue that School Board members may act on at their 4 p.m. meeting today.

Janison has asked district staff to look at transportation alternatives, but did not say what position she'll take on the larger issue of closing the rural schools. School Board Member Carolyn Edwards, who represents the Goodsprings area, acknowledged that closing the schools would be heart-rending.

Edwards has not decided how she will vote. "I'm really conflicted on this one," she said.

Rose Getler, president of the Lundy Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization, said the suggestion makes no sense and blamed district leadership for allowing the situation to reach this point.

"Our kids are paying the price of their inability to run the district efficiently," Getler said.

Lundy educates nine students at a cost of $21,751 each. Goodsprings educates six students at $21,509 each.

In comparison, the cost of educating a student at an urban school is about $7,000, according to district reports. The rural schools are so expensive because there are "no economies of scale," said Jim McIntosh, the district's budget director.

Costs per student increase by another $3,000 to $5,000 when maintenance and utility costs are factored in for Lundy and Goodsprings. Based on figures provided by the district, it spends about $239,643 to operate Lundy and $147,564 for Goodsprings.

Because the district has a budget of $2.1 billion, the savings from the closings seems relatively small, parents said.

They also dispute the district's figures on the cost of operations, since each school has only one full-time teacher and two or three part-time assistants.

Eric Snyder, the father of two small children he wants to attend Lundy, contends the Mount Charleston school is self-funded because of the high property taxes paid by residents there.

"All we want is to keep our tiny schoolhouse open," Snyder said.

Because real estate loses an estimated 25 percent of its value whenever an area school closes, Snyder said the district could lose future revenue.

Amie Brown, a parent at Lundy, also said families are willing to make sacrifices to keep the school open.

"Our time, our money, whatever it takes to make it work," Brown said. "We are also willing to do custodial as well, whatever is necessary, really."

Harley Lloyd, an alumnus and father of Goodsprings students, said the sense of the community in the rural areas will be diminished if the schools close.

The blow is felt keenly in Goodsprings, where the school dates back to 1913. Julie Newberry, a former teacher at Goodsprings, said the school is believed to be one of the oldest, if not the oldest, in Nevada.

Edwards acknowledged that "there's a lot of history there."

District officials have not announced what they plan to do with the schools should they be closed.

Edwards said the district has approached both Clark County and the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District about taking over the Goodsprings school property, but neither seemed to be interested.

Parents seem most irate when busing elementary school students is mentioned.

District staff argue that Lundy and Goodsprings students could fill existing seats on buses that now transport older children in their communities to Sandy Valley and Indian Springs for middle school and high school.

Sandy Valley is 14 miles from Goodsprings and Indian Springs is 43 miles from Mount Charleston.

"We think it's a disgrace to put an elementary school child on the bus with middle school (students) and teenagers," Getler said. "They're all on the same bus for upwards of an hour and a half (one way)."

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