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White Pine educators making do
By Jennifer Crowe
First-grade teacher Mary Harrison has gotten good at making do with less.
For several years her school, David E. Norman Elementary in Ely, has only been able to order the bare-bones basics: paper, pencils, crayons. Supplies such as paints, markers and clay were luxuries the school simply couldn't afford.
Harrison's students have used hand-held chalkboard slates until the finish was so worn the chalk wouldn't take. Harrison has had to ask parents to pitch in and pay for Weekly Readers, a popular magazine that builds reading skills. The state mandates textbook replacements every seven years, but reading books at Norman Elementary were a decade old.
"The material in the books was fine, but they were old and falling apart," Harrison said. "A lot of us have spent hundreds out of our own pockets so the kids have things to use. We haven't had money in the budget to buy the things that make education fun."
This is the first year the picture isn't so bleak. The school had money to buy new reading books and a variety of classroom supplies. Harrison was able to replace her worn-out slates. But with the closure of the nearby copper mine, Norman Elementary is likely to face a tight budget again next year.
Schools finance chief Paul Johnson estimates the per-pupil money White Pine schools get from the state will drop by nearly $1 million next year, about 10 percent of the district's annual budget. Norman Elementary's enrollment has dropped by more than 40 students since the mine closure, meaning less money for the school.
"Even when there are fewer students not all of the costs go down," Harrison said. "You still have to maintain the buildings and have heat."
Mine helped in past : Kennecott helped cover the costs to send high school students in the band, on athletic teams or in other extra-curricular activities to competitions elsewhere. Those students never traveled at night because of safety concerns, instead staying overnight in motel rooms - often at the company's expense, Farnsworth said.
"Now the kids are having to pay their own way and traveling at all hours," she said. "They have to travel a long way and they get home anywhere between midnight and 4 a.m. The buses have broken down on Austin Summit at night. That's still three hours away to pick them up and bring them back on another bus."
Although the financial woes haven't resulted in program cuts in the schools, students are noticing some differences.
"In some classes, every chair is full," said White Pine High School senior Nikki Daugherty. "There's been some shuffling and it's better, but not having enough teachers puts the school in a bind. When there's 30 kids or more in the class, teachers can't give every student the attention they need."
White Pine High School Principal Michael Redzich says he could use more teachers at the school, but doesn't have the money to hire them. Rather, existing staff has had to take on additional responsibilities because some empty positions aren't being filled.
"School goes on and life goes on," Redzich said. "But next year's going to be tough unless something changes drastically."
arents and teachers aren't complaining about the money problems. Instead, they're finding ways to cope.
Parents donate time, money:
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Mud monsters was one project that was both popular with the students and easy on the pocketbook. Using sand, glue, sticks and branches, children molded the materials into different creatures. Irene Chachas, mother of two students and one of the art program organizers, said parents recognize the need for art education and are willing to donate their time and money to make it happen.
"Once the idea is planted the participation comes along," she said. "Even if we don't have the money, we have tremendous parent and community support. If it's for the children, they're there."
Even though someone always seems to be asking for the community's support, schools don't seem to have worn out their welcome with local businesses. White Pine senior Russ Kizor said nearly every business in town bought a clock from him last year to support the junior class fund-raiser.
"Everybody has their hand out, but they don't say no," said local resident and former teacher Robin Johns. School parent-teacher organizations also have been critical to providing things the schools can't afford. The Norman Elementary Parent Teacher Organization raised money to buy a school marquee and printers to go with the new computers that were bought with grants.
The parent group at White Pine Middle School will occasionally get together and make sub sandwiches for the students just to break up the monotony of school lunches and do something special for the kids.
School district tops in tech: Despite the financial problems, the district is one of Nevada's leaders in classroom technology. School officials have doggedly pursued grant money, and there are two networked computers in every White Pine classroom while many other rural districts are still getting wired.
"A lot of progressive things have happened despite the fact our area is relatively depressed," reading resource teacher Jody Chachas said. "Right in the middle of the big budget crunches we got new computers."
Some in the community saw that as poor financial decision-making, Harrison said. Many didn't understand that grants for technology can't be used to buy school supplies or pay teacher salaries.
"We had to explain that to parents," she said. "They couldn't understand how we were getting new computers and not able to buy other supplies."
Even more impressive than the technology growth is the increase in student test scores at a time when school funding was in decline. The district tests students in second to 10th grade to track year-to-year growth. TerraNova scores in reading and math went up in nearly every grade from 1997 to 1998. The only declines were in seventh-grade reading and eighth-grade math, where students lost three points and one point, respectively.
Shellinger said it's difficult to pinpoint what accounted for the increases, but he notes several changes in district policy. The school day is longer, graduation requirements are the highest in the state, and there has been a real emphasis on teacher training and revamping the curriculum.
Each school also has three parent-teacher conferences each year to ensure parents are aware of their child's progress and involved in improving it.
"We have had remarkable gains, even in the face of adversity," Shellinger said.