An idea so good it had to be kept secret

With the Clark County School District considering furloughs, pay cuts, class-size increases and the elimination of electives and extracurricular activities to weather this terrible recession, you'd think educators would jump at the chance to save $500,000 without sacrificing a single student experience.

You'd be wrong. In fact, district brass were so quick this year to dismiss a practical, money-saving idea that they never bothered sharing the proposal with the School Board or the taxpaying public.

Re-thinking education tends to get in the way of screaming for tax increases.

It costs the school district -- meaning you, the taxpayer -- $500,000 to lease UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center for high school graduation ceremonies. In early June, nearly half of the district's 50-plus commencements will be held there, four ceremonies per day, three hours apart.

The valley's biggest schools graduate nearly 1,000 seniors each year. Such large graduating classes can't possibly fit all their relatives and friends in a high school gymnasium, and the summer heat makes an outdoor ceremony at a football field a lousy alternative.

It's common sense to have commencements at a central, air-conditioned facility large enough to accommodate all who wish to attend, while providing plenty of parking and the technical resources to make sure every face is seen and every name is heard. It's a signature arena for a signature moment in these teenagers' lives.

That said, anyone who's been to a Clark County School District graduation ceremony at the Thomas & Mack has a horror story to share: Waiting in the sweltering heat for a commencement to end; fighting the rush to open seating; trying to secure seats for loved ones still making their way in; upsetting surly grandmothers who insist that, yes, these 40 empty seats are taken; accepting the disappointment of sitting separately from other family members.

Daren Libonati, executive director of the Thomas & Mack Center, had an idea to fix everything. To save the school district badly needed funds. To spare parents, family and friends the indignity of soaking their suits and dresses with sweat before being trampled in a cattle call. To make each high school graduation ceremony less chaotic, make it easier for students to spot their families -- and maybe even raise a little money for school programs on the side.

Libonati proposed eliminating the district's open seating policy -- and waiving the arena's $500,000 use fee -- in exchange for switching to reserved seating at $5 per ticket.

"People could buy their tickets on the Internet and print them at home," Libonati said. "They could have them mailed. They could arrive at the arena 10 minutes before the start of the commencement, their seats guaranteed -- together. You'll enhance the kids' experience and the families will love it."

But Libonati understands that especially today, some families are being forced to make choices that few of us can comprehend. Feed the kids today, or buy them tickets to their sister's graduation? So he would have set aside about 100 free tickets for each commencement, for distribution by principals to the families of the neediest graduates.

"This is not about gouging. This allows me to recoup my costs in a different way, and I would be more than happy to put any excess revenues into a pool that goes back into the school system," Libonati said. "We want what's good for the program."

The school district took a pass. Administrators polled a few principals, who pooh-poohed the plan, and it went no further.

School district spokesman Michael Rodriguez said the proposal was rejected because officials felt like they couldn't ask possibly ask parents -- especially the poor -- to make one more sacrifice on such an important day for their families.

Instead, they'll tell parents, students and staff to make a different sacrifice somewhere else. That $500,000 could have saved a few jobs, classes, clubs or competitions. And district officials are lobbying lawmakers hard for the huge tax increases that will require plenty more sacrifices from Nevada businesses and workers.

Already, there are plenty of high school events that have admission costs. Sports playoff and championship contests, for example, charge a decent amount for a ticket, and I have yet to hear anyone complain about the inability of low-income families to witness their children's athletic accomplishments.

That's different, Rodriguez says. Playoff games don't typically draw the number of out-of-town relatives and friends that graduations do.

But if anyone can afford to travel to Las Vegas for a commencement, whether it's from Indian Springs or Indianapolis, they won't think twice about dropping $5 for a reserved seat at the ceremony.

The district already asks graduates to pay for their caps and gowns. And it imposes costs by burdening thousands of families with a trip across town to attend ceremonies, anyway.

Regardless, Libonati's plan had a provision for the truly indigent, and it still went nowhere. The whole thing smacks of last year's donation debacle involving retired security executive Jeffrey Moskow, who tried to give the school district $2 million for gifted education programs but was blown off. He ended up donating his wealth elsewhere.

There are scores of business leaders with the intellect and the energy to help the district survive until the economy recovers and thrive in the years beyond, either through ideas for efficiencies, fundraising or creating partnerships to ensure valued programs don't disappear.

Who knows how many more ideas like Libonati's have been kept "in house," never allowed to see the light of day?

Maybe the school district is finally realizing that outsiders can help. Libonati is meeting with administrators again this week.

Given the current economic climate -- and the budget realities unfolding in Carson City -- it's the School Board's job to work with the public in establishing spending priorities and alternatives. If we want to keep open seating at commencements, we need to know exactly what will get axed to cover the bill. And once we know what stands to be cut, we just might change our minds.

But we can't debate that choice if the School Board and the public are kept from knowing what's on the table.

Remember that when your taxes go up next year.

Glenn Cook (gcook@reviewjournal.com) is a Review-Journal editorial writer.