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99th ABW commander hosts public charter school town hall

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Siuta B. Ika
  • 99th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Col. Richard Boutwell, 99th Air Base Wing commander, hosted a town hall at the base theater here Dec. 15 to discuss the base's plan to transition from the Clark County School District-based Lomie G. Heard Elementary School to Coral Academy of Science Las Vegas (CASLV). 

Boutwell and representatives from CASLV provided approximately 200 audience members information on the school's academic year 2016-2017 and answered pressing questions from audience members.

While excited about the opportunities the partnership with CASLV brings, Boutwell also acknowledged the great relationship the base has had over the years with CCSD and the staff at Lomie G. Heard Elementary School.

The following are questions from audience members and answers from Boutwell and the CASLV reps, along with questions posed after the official question and answer session.

Q1: You said the school on base will go to 8th grade in the coming years, so is it possible the school on base will expand through high school?
A1: For now, CASLV will operate out the Lomie G. Heard Elementary School facility and is space limited to K-5. As the new school comes on line sometime around 2018, that will expand to K-8. Right now there is no plan to expand the on-base school past 8th grade with CASLV. We currently don't have the additional five acres of land an expansion would require. Children outside of the grade levels offered at CASLV would have to attend a CCSD high school, magnet school, private school, or another charter school.

Q2: Is there any way we can get portables to serve as classrooms at the Lomie G. Heard Elementary School site so we can expand the school to K-6 next school year?
A2: We'll take that into consideration and will look at what's doable for both the Air Force and CASLV. Right now we're exploring the realm of the possible so nothing is off the table, but I don't want to give you a false hope because there's a lot of work left for us to do before we can answer that definitively.

Q3: We are currently stationed here but my husband's job bounces between three bases. There's a good chance we will leave and come back. If we move but PCS back here after the school's registration period has ended, what do we do?
A3: We are a transitory community and that makes us unique when it comes to dates, deadlines, etc. But we'll talk with the Air Force and CASLV to see if there's a percentage or buffer we can set aside for non-scheduled movers. The law is very generic so we are looking at how we can shape the policy for who has priority at the Nellis campus.

Q4: If there's no busing to school next year, how's it going to work with the influx of people dropping off their kids?
A4: We're going to go through some growing pains and it's not going to be perfect from day one, but this is a temporary thing until we get the new facility. We are going through every option we can to provide transportation, and we'll push forward with all of our options until the right authority eliminates them. We have to run those answers up the chain and unfortunately we don't always control that timing, but ultimately this is about your kids, your family, and your quality of life. My hope is that by the time we sign the lease in July we will know all of the answers.

Q5: What happens for children who are on an Individualized Educational Plan or have special education needs?
A5: CASLV is a public school, so they are required to have the same support as a CCSD public school would have for a special needs child or one that has an IEP.

Q6: You said that people employed at Nellis will have priority, my husband is stationed at Creech but we live on Nellis. Would we also have priority?
A6: We are going to work with CASLV to shape the school policy for who has priority, because the law is very generic. As the installation commander, I look at the Nellis-Creech-NTTR team as one population. One thing I'm pushing for though is that priority goes to people who live in Nellis housing.

Q7: The folks we expect to PCS here next summer, are they eligible for the lottery in February or do they need to have orders cut ahead of time to register?
A7: If they do not have orders in hand already, the member should be able to use their assignment report on individual personnel (RIP) to register for school. Again, we are working with CASLV to see how we can accommodate those families that don't move prior to registration deadlines.

Q8: Right now at Lomie G. Heard Elementary School there are six kindergarten classes, five 1st grade classes and only two 5th grade classes. Are you going to take into account that each grade will have a different need?
A8: We need to see what the numbers for each grade level looks like. There are things we need to do structurally for each grade section, but if there's a need for more lower grade levels we will definitely talk about that. There are a lot of unknowns but our focus is always going to be on the kids and making sure we're taking care of them.

Q9: District-wide, CCSD was short about 1,000 teachers at the beginning of the school year; how are you guys getting your teachers? And are you going to have aides in the classrooms as well or is it just going to be one teacher for 25 students?
A9: In the past, for our three other campuses in Las Vegas, we have hired teachers from CCSD, other charters, other private schools, and from other states. Last year we did a job fair in New York and a couple other destinations, so we're pulling from all over the country and developing a compensation package that will entice the best-quality teachers. We do have IEP and support staff members that help in classrooms, so there are aides who help out.

Q10: What about 5th graders going into 6th grade next year? Will we have priority for the other CASLV campuses that do offer 6th, 7th and 8th grades?
A10: We are currently working on a transfer policy. Right now, the process is the same as it has been in years past, graduate to other CCSD schools or a private school of the parents' choice.  But, this is new for us so we will look at how we might do this, but we haven't reached that point yet.

Q11: For families that try to go for the lottery but are not accepted, are they going to be put onto a waiting list so they can get in to CASLV when spots open up?
A11: We'll fill however many seats are allocated for a particular grade level, then the remaining applicants in that grade level will be given a wait list number. So when spots open up, the next person in line can move in. That's how it will go for each grade level.

Q12: Are all of the teachers fully licensed?
A12: Yes, there are rigorous standards that our teachers meet at the state level. They are all licensed in Nevada.

Q13: I currently serve on the executive board for the Lomie Heard Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) and am interested in getting involved in the new school's Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO). Do you guys have local chapters for each school or is it one big program?
A13: We have three Henderson campuses and there's a president for the entire PTO, and there's leaders under the president that are divvied up among the three campuses. Here I envision having a separate PTO or at least a chapter where all the parents are from students attending school here. They can still participate in big school-wide events, but there needs to be something specific to this location.

Q14: In the event we live on base but our children aren't chosen in the lottery and we're assigned a wait list number, where else are we supposed to send our kids?
A14: We are still finalizing all the priority categories, but they would have to go off base to another CCSD elementary school -- the CCSD Attendance Zone Advisory Committee has proposed rezoning current Lomie G. Heard Elementary School students to attend Zel and Mary Lowman or J.E. Manch Elementary Schools just outside the Landings Gate on Craig Road -- or a magnet school, private school, or another charter school until a seat opens up.

Q15: How are you going to place students with the correct teacher next year who understands a particular child's educational needs?
A15: We'll do our due diligence in the beginning of the year. The first couple weeks of the year is all about team building, ice breaker activities, and getting to know the students through doing all those fun activities. From there, we can be fluid and flexible and should know if it isn't the best fit for a student, and we can look at getting them into a different class. Our doors will be open and we are receptive to feedback. We are also hoping to retain some of the teachers currently at Lomie Heard so that would give us some information as well. The biggest thing though is to communicate, because we can't do anything if we don't know there's a problem going on or if you want something different.

Q16: Recent Nevada legislation has said DOD employees living/working on base would be admitted to the school, how/why would they not get accepted?
A16: Let's say hypothetically there are 100 slots in a particular grade level but 120 applicants who all reside on base. Those who live on base get the priority, but if there are more qualified applicants than positions, it might not be possible to admit everyone. We'll have a better sight picture when the registration period is closed at the end of February.

Q17: You said there may not be transportation to and from school, so what's the game plan for mil-to-mil parents who can't drop off or pick up their kids?
A17: Our hope is to give you options -- whether you want to use CASLV's before and after school programs or use our Youth Center programs -- so we're looking at what transportation options we can provide. Our goal here is to cast as wide of a net as we can to capture as many services as we can. Unfortunately, it's not going to be a perfect net, we're going to miss some demographics, we're going to miss some individuals due to bad luck with timing or occupancy, but our goal is to go for the best long-term plan for the entire community.

Q18: If your child goes to a CCSD school off base, are the buses going to be able to get on base to pick up and drop off children?
A18: Yes, just like they do today. There's a certain number of students that we would have to have for CCSD to send a bus. If they did, we would work with CCSD like we do now to vet bus drivers that pick up and drop off on-base students.

For more information about CASLV, please contact the school registrar at 702-776-6529, extension 106 or visit their website at http://www.caslv.org. For more information about other schooling options, please contact the 99th Force Support Squadron School Liaison Officer at 702-652-2156 or visit the SLO's webpage at http://www.nellis.af.mil/schoolliaisonofficer/index.asp.

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