Cram addresses growth

     By Lynn Collier
     View staff writer
      Lauren Bradford's second-grade classroom was crammed with TV cameramen and reporters Aug. 20.
      Her room, decorated with alphabet letters and a map of the world, was the focal point of Clark County School District superintendent Brian Cram's back-to-school speech.
      As Bradford sat at her desk in the back of the new Kesterson Elementary School classroom, Cram talked about how important teachers like Bradford were to the eighth largest school district in the country.
      "This classroom is the center of the educational universe," Cram said from a podium at the front of the room. "We should never lose that very important child in Mrs. Bradford's classroom."
      The nation's fastest-growing school district opened eight new schools this year. Two were in Henderson -- Kesterson, at 231 Bailey Island Drive, and Foothill High School, 800 College Drive next to the Community College of Southern Nevada's Henderson campus.
      All the new schools opened on time and under budget, Cram told the crowd. In fact, his department has gotten so good at opening 10 to 12 new schools a year, he accelerated the schedule and hopes to open six elementary schools in 2001, a year early. The district plans to open 88 new schools in the next 10 years.
      "We are growing the size of a school district each year," said Cram, who will retire in July.
      Cram, who has served as school superintendent for the Clark County School District for the past decade, said he worries the district won't have enough classrooms or teachers for the growing number of pupils.
      He said he hopes to get ahead of the building schedule and have classrooms awaiting pupils in high-growth areas. He also hopes to expand his homegrown teaching program, in which UNLV and CCSN would help produce teachers for the district.
      He talked about a recent e-mail from a superintendent from another school district that called his recruitment tactics "cannibalistic."
      "I took that as a compliment," Cram said. "We need the teachers."
      Each year, the district hires from 1,600 to 1,800 new teachers. This year, it will hire nearly 2,000 new teachers. In Cram's tenure, the school district has nearly doubled its enrollment from 111,000 to 200,000 and built 100 new schools. This year, the district will operate 235 schools. Overall, the number of school employees has nearly doubled from 10,000 to 20,000.
      Although the school district is getting better in dealing with the booming growth, Cram predicted it won't catch up, at least not in the next decade.
      "We will always be in a hurry," he said. "We'll always be running with our hair on fire."
      Cram, who described himself as an "adrenalin freak" wouldn't say what his long-term plans are after he retires. But he did say he has planned a few vacations and will work on his golf game. Still, he said he will always be an advocate for public education.
      "I feel a sense of loss," he said. "It's like when I went off to college and left the people I loved. I felt a sense of loss, but also a sense of adventure."
      School Board Trustee Mary Beth Scow, who represents District A, which encompasses the Henderson area, agreed that finding enough teachers and building classrooms should be the continuing focus for the school district.
      In the next few years, two new Henderson elementary schools will be built to relieve Lamping, 2551 Summit Grove Drive, and Cartwright, 1050 E. Gary Ave.
      "Nobody thinks the growth will slow down in the valley," she said. "It's been growing steadily since the 1940s."