School board agrees to redistricting plan

Citizen activist group pleased with outcome

BEATTY -- Normally an "F" is a failing grade, but for members of the Pahrump Valley Community Action Team, the Nye County school board deserved an "A" for choosing Option "F" from among six redistricting plans Monday.

"I'm going to float back to Pahrump. I'm so excited," said Bill King, a PVCAT member after several members of his group made a presentation to Nye County school board members at Beatty High School.

"That was a major accomplishment," said PVCAT member Patricia Cox. PVCAT is a new citizen activist organization formed after a weekend retreat in November.

Option F would set up five school districts exclusively in Pahrump, while District 2 would include Pahrump Precinct 23 -- the area north of Irene Road and east of Linda Street -- in with Beatty, Amargosa Valley and Crystal. District 1 would include everything north of Beatty -- Tonopah, Gabbs, Ione, Round Mountain, Manhattan, Currant, Duckwater and Sunnyside.

The measure passed 5-1, trustee Nancy Sollinger voted against its passage, saying she preferred option B. Sollinger said option B would keep communities intact and have each school board member representing an equal number of schools, convenient for attending ceremonial functions. Under that option, Amargosa Valley and Beatty would be lumped in with all four Tonopah precincts. Pahrump Precinct 23 and Crystal would join the huge northern district. The remainder would be exclusively Pahrump districts.

"It would force the big city to see what the rural areas need," Sollinger said.

With option F, districts would range in size from 3,879 residents in District 6 -- taking in Pahrump precincts 11 and 28, an area roughly between Blagg Road and Pahrump Valley Boulevard south of Highway 372 -- to 5,400 residents in the far-flung District 1. The ideal number, dividing the 2000 Nye County Census by seven, would be 4,640 residents in each district.

Among the four Pahrump districts: District 3 would include precincts 9, 26 and 27, with 4,934 residents, areas roughly north of Irene Street and west of Linda Street. District 4 would include precincts 21 and 25, with 4,336 residents, areas south of Irene and west of Blagg Road, except a chunk north of Highway 372 bounded by Barney and David that would be in District 3, north of there. District 5 would include precincts 10 and 19, with 4,663 residents, everything north of Heritage Road and south of Irene Road and east of David Street north of Highway 372, east of Unicorn Street south of Highway 372. District 7 would include precincts 20, 22 and 24, with 4,339 residents, areas south of Heritage Road and east of Pahrump Valley Boulevard.

School board members have yet to decide whether they will stick with the current system of voting, in which school board members are elected by voters countywide, or go to a district system of voting.

PVCAT members had circulated a petition asking for Nye County commissioners to take action on the redistricting if the school board failed to act. The filing period for candidates in the November election is May 6-20. Brian Kunzi, a member of the PVCAT education committee, threatened legal action if the county commission didn't act on it.

"If this doesn't happen, we are prepared to file a federal lawsuit to force the school district to do it," Kunzi said. While Kunzi spoke as a private citizen, school board member Debbie Wescoatt, speaking via conference call, reminded the board Kunzi was also employed by the Nevada attorney general's office.

Because the county commission didn't have to redraw the school district boundaries, public hearings aren't required by law, Kunzi said. However school board members decided to hold a public hearing on the redistricting plan by videoconference with Pahrump, at their next regular meeting at 10 a.m. April 8 in Tonopah.

Kunzi said all seven school board members will have to run for re-election after the redistricting. Normally, only school board members Bobbi Hommel, Wescoatt and Sollinger would be up for election this year. Board members would have to live in their districts, meaning Nancy Maslach, Janine Hartley and a person to be appointed to fill Jim Merlino's seat, would all come from District 1 in the north.

Sylvia Beaman, who suggested option F, said the last time she found evidence of a Nye County school redistricting was in 1982. The population of Pahrump soared from 42 percent of the county after the 1990 Census to 75 percent in 2000.

"The school board took the oath to defend the constitution of the United States. I want my representation defended," Beaman said.

Maslach, from Tonopah, said she liked option F. "The numbers are well represented there," she said.

Hartley, from Round Mountain, said she also liked option F. She said the public needs school board members they're acquainted with. Under Option B, she said people living in precinct 23 in Pahrump could get elected who don't have the face and name recognition in the north.

"They (voters) want people they know that they can call on easily," Hartley said.

Sollinger pushed for residents voting only for school board members in their district, similar to the Nye County Commission, saying it would be easier for candidates to campaign.

"If you want them to know who you are over a large area, that requires a lot of footwork," Sollinger said.

But Mary Alice Atkinson, and other Pahrump board members, favored the countywide voting system.

"We need to be concerned with the whole school district, not just Pahrump," Atkinson said. "Don't you think the kids from Duckwater are just as important as the kids from Pahrump?"

"We are the Nye County school board, not the Pahrump Valley school board," Wescoatt said.

"We have to be accountable for every student in this county," Hommel added.

Hartley, however, suggested tabling the issue until the next meeting to give it more thought. Wescoatt was unsuccessful in asking for an evening meeting April 8, so more working voters could hear the debate on the manner of electing board members.

Kunzi said PVCAT members recommended to stay with the current system of countywide election of school board members, because they didn't think the school district would agree to their proposal.

"If we took it to county commissioners that was an uphill battle," Kunzi said. "We felt the less change we had to submit to county commissioners, the more we could get them to do it."

School board members decided to declare a vacancy for Merlino's position, from the Tonopah area. The board was deadlocked 3-3 last time, with southern board members arguing redistricting should take place first. Board members will interview candidates for the board seat at the April 8 Tonopah meeting.

Hartley argued for filling the vacancy before redistricting.

"We need to have that seat filled in order to have a vote on the reapportionment because all seven trustees need to vote on it," Hartley said.

But Hommel said only a quorum of board members was needed. The vote on declaring the vacancy took place in the morning, the redistricting was decided in the afternoon.


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