By: Las Vegas Now Staff
Overcrowded schools are once again pitting hundreds of families against the Clark County School District. Some parents are being asked to take their children out of one school and move them to another.
It's definitely a touchy subject for parents. Lamping Elementary School is more than 400 students over capacity but still manages to be rated as an exemplary school. The school district says the overcrowding is a safety issue that needs to be addressed by rezoning. Parents disagree, saying it's a temporary fix they don't want.
“We are the taxpayers and we are saying leave us alone,” said Lindy Schumacher, parent of Lamping student. “They are looking at assets not people's lives, not the lives of the children you are affecting.”
Dozens of parents from the Henderson community came out to the school district's zoning committee meeting after learning their schools were at risk of being rezoned.
The main goal is to move kids out of Lamping Elementary School and into surrounding schools that are not at capacity, but depending on what they recommend to the board, up to eight schools could be affected.
The zoning committee says despite how many parents don't want changes, their hands are tied. Continued growth in the area means students will continue to be shuffled around for years to come.
Kenneth Rezendes, with the zoning committee, said, “You know the heartstrings that you are ripping apart. But when it comes to growth, you have a parent that says, well, can't you just move this street and you have to sit down and explain why you can't and you're asking them for something different.”
Parents say it's not fair to bus their child to a school that may be farther away, and they feel it's also unfair to tear their child away from friends and teachers they have grown comfortable with.
Even though the school district says there's no choice, these parents say they also have no choice but to fight back. “We're not here on a whim. We'll continue to be here rallying more, fighting the same issues,” said Dale Demann.
The school district says they understand why parents are passionate about this subject. They promise to continue to work with parents until the best solution is found.
A final decision won't be made until early March.
E-mail your comments to Reporter Melissa Duran.
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