Parents urge alternatives as Clark County School District holds public input on elementary rezoning

The Attendance Zone Advisory Commission (ASAC) of the Clark County School District held a public input meeting Jan. 15 to gather comments on three proposed attendance-boundary changes that would shift students among Wayne N. Tanaka, Judith T. Steele, Shelly Berkeley and Donna D. Snyder elementary schools. The commission did not take action on the proposals at the meeting.

Tracy Murphy, director of demographics and zoning for the Clark County School District, said the focus-area package (identified in meeting materials as Focus Area E1) contains three rezoning proposals. Murphy said the proposals respond to growth near Tanaka and Steele elementary schools, which she said are over 100% of program capacity, while Berkeley and Snyder have available capacity that could provide enrollment relief. Murphy told the commission the proposals target several discrete areas and that any formal ASAC recommendation will be drafted at the commission’s Jan. 21 meeting and forwarded to the superintendent and the Board of School Trustees for consideration later in February.

The public comment portion of the meeting drew two speakers. Angie Ono, a resident who said she lives “on 8050 Chapel Hills Court” near the boundary at Windmill, urged the commission to allow families to keep children at their current schools when possible. “I would just like the opportunity to give us that chance to stay at Steele,” Ono said, adding that moving her elementary-age children would be “heartbreaking” and disruptive to friendships and routines built over years.

Magalie Navarrell, a resident in area C who described herself as living one street over from Windmill Lane, recommended a facility-based alternative. “I strongly advocate for building an annex at the current schools to absorb the expected growth,” Navarrell said, arguing that an annex would preserve continuity for students and be a flexible, longer-term solution than repeatedly rezoning boundaries.

Meeting materials presented by district staff describe the three proposals as follows (language and geographic shorthand from the district materials): Proposal 1 includes an Area 1 rezoning of about 12 students south of Patrick Lane (Tanaka to Berkeley), an Area B rezoning of about 130 students near Warm Springs Road (Tanaka to Snyder), and an Area C rezoning of about 140 students near Windmill Lane/Buffalo Drive (Steele to Snyder). Proposal 2 repeats a similar Area A (about 12 students from Tanaka to Berkeley), an Area B (about 45 students from Tanaka to Snyder), and an Area C (about 104 students from Steele to Snyder). All numbers were stated in the district presentation materials at the meeting.

Murphy told attendees that any zoning recommendations approved by the Board of School Trustees would take effect for the 2025–26 school year and that new assignments would be reflected in mid‑April registration materials. She also said the ASAC meeting that will formulate final attendance‑boundary recommendations is scheduled for Jan. 21 at 9:30 a.m. in the Edward A. Greer Education Center Board Room, and that the Board of School Trustees will consider ASAC recommendations at a February meeting (dates provided in the presentation materials). The Jan. 15 session was structured only to receive public input; ASAC members did not engage in deliberation with speakers during the public comment item.

The commission opened and closed the meeting with routine procedural votes (adoption of the agenda and adjournment). No rezoning votes or final decisions were made at the Jan. 15 public input meeting. The district encouraged anyone who did not speak to submit written comments by mail, email (azac@nv.ccsd.net), or the ASAC hotline, and said staff present could follow up on specific inquiries after the meeting.

Support staff and other district representatives at the meeting included Steve Burda, Josh Gellman, Martha Roman and Waka Kentana Laura from the demographics and zoning staff; Ben Foley from the Office of Legal Counsel; and Transportation Department staff Michael Dingmers and Sean Van Allen. Nicholas Vinay chaired the meeting.