CCSD Needs a House Cleaning and I'm Ready for The Task

Clark County School District is the 5th largest school district in the country.  Since that distinction has arrived, and recently before, the educational environment has steadily deteriorated.  In January 2010 Education Week Magazine rated Nevada 50th in the Nation.  This is the second year in a row for that notorious distinction.  This is the result of bad management at the top.  Current Trustees are trying to shirk the blame by any propaganda that they can come up with.  The unfortunate conclusion is inescapable.  Bad management followed by lies to avoid the blame is more than the taxpayers and parents should or can put up with. More...

 

School Board Praises Superintendent Walt Rulffes and Nominates Him For a National Award

As a part of their program to reward substandard performance the School Board Trustees have nominated failed superintendent Walt Rulffes for "superintendent of the Year".  To the dumbfounded amazement of onlookers CCSD Trustees publicly affirmed the success of Rulffes after grading a report card that he himself set up.  Copies of this report card later revealed that according to Rulffes own carefully selected criteria he was given praise and this nomination after achieving a grade of 51%.  The failure of the Trustees to set up a grading system that has anything to do with what parents want their children to learn is part of the blame free "Policy Governance" system that the district pays for annually both in fees for the packaged system and in failed management.

Maybe Walt is being rewarded for something that parents, students, educators and tax payers don't understand?  My comments were mentioned in the LVRJ editorial this week.  Here is the link:  http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/wait-to-replace-rulffes--or-not--91350384.html   Commentator Glenn Cook brings up the School Board's plan to hire an immediate replacement for superintendent Rulffes.  Last month there was a scandal wherein the public discovered that the school board gave superintendent Walt Rulffes a huge bonus while simultaneously planning to cut teacher and staff pay and cut school days.  The scheme came to light after Trustee Edwards reported in her newsletter that "The additional benefits discussed were awarded in 2006, prior to..." (Edwards being seated on the board).  The Article.  Jim Haug of the LVRJ then posted a recording of Edwards voice reading the decision to give the big bonus into the school board minutes during October 2009.  Last month Trustee Young attempted to get the matter heard publicly.  she told attendees at the school board meeting that she did not understand what she had voted for (I think that she meant that something was not explained) and wanted to bring the item back.  Walt then gave his notice (of leaving) when his contract was up in August 2010.  The bottom line is that the School Board and the CCSD Public Relations Machine is real anxious to get this story behind them.

No "F Minus" Please... Education Week Names Nevada 50th in the Nation for Education

Education Week Magazine named Nevada 50th in the nation for a second year in a row in it's January 2010 issue.  The dubious distinction was first announced in January 2009 based upon analysis done in 2008.  that year was before the big economic downturn hit the Clark County School District which is the biggest educational entity in the state by a large margin.  CCSD educates 72% of Nevada's students. In spite of the districts persistent failure to comply with the requirements of 'No Child Left Behind' and 'Adequate Yearly Progress' the Trustees led by Board President Janison and Vice President Edwards continue to congratulate CCSD education management staff for their performance.  The school board is apparently unaware that the letter equivalent of 50th in the nation is usually an F minus. More...

Families Flee Las Vegas Due To Bad Schools No Matter What The Economy Is Doing

If you are a homeowner in the Las Vegas valley, like I am, then the Trustees are visiting a disaster on your neighborhood.  I have no idea when it will arrive or if it did already.  But, let me tell you what it is...  When the economy was on the way up people who owns homes in close to town would sell their houses and move to the outlying areas where the new schools were being built.  The new neighborhoods weren't as convenient as the old but the old schools were allowed to deteriorate and it became one more reason to move out.  Neighborhood values slid as families moved outward.  Those left behind didn't notice because they had no kids.  Eventually the neighborhood went down in value and no one knew why.  Much of this was caused by triggering events, mostly AZAC.  When the school that served your neighborhood for many years changes and your kids have to change schools that is one example.  AZAC is how the Trustees have abdicated responsibility for deciding this to. Another reason to go is when AZAC decides to take a group of affluent neighborhoods and send them to a nearby school while annexing a giant trailer park or transient apartment complex into yours.  The next summer everybody is talking new houses and you start thinking that it's  time to go too. 

The current choice encouraging departure by CCSD is when you are free to leave or stay in Vegas.  Maybe you get a chance to transfer with your job and you are a renter.  Maybe you are a young couple deciding to live where her family is or his family is?  The fact that we are 50th in the nation weighs in.

 

To ask questions about voting click here.  Or Telephone: 455-VOTE

About Ken Small, Parent, Activist, Educational Planner.

Serious About Changing the Way CCSD is Run!

Ken Small is the only candidate in this race who is trained in school planning.  Ken is a (REFP) Recognized Educational Facility Planner through CEFPI.  Ken is an outsider to CCSD who is used to the push-back that the board gives to those who want to make reforms.  As an educational facility planner, Ken is trained in the planning of schools and how school planning relates to the classroom, costs and education in general.  Ken is a Clark County architect who has designed many school buildings.  His latest success was Jacob E. Manch phased replacement.  Ken is a member of the AIA Committee on Education, a national organization dedicated to schools.  He is also a former founding board member and past president of the CEFPI Clark County Chapter.  As a successful businessman Ken knows what it takes to run an organization with financial controls and get more bang for the buck.  As a parent Ken has had experience in dealing with the system from the bottom up.  As an architect Ken has seen how the system works from the inside.  Ken has also been a president and board member of Construction Specifications Institute Las Vegas.  Ken is a member of many Las Vegas civic and professional organizations.  Among them are Construction Specifications Institute, CEFPI, Associated General Contractors, NAACP, Elks, USGBC & AIA.

In his capacity as an architect and planner Ken has appeared before almost every town board, city council, County Commission and planning commission in the valley.  Ken has presented school and building design work to many educators, parents and even during the (somewhat secret) Cabinet meetings of the Trustees.

After Hearing Oscar's Frustration on the Radio,

I Went to Talk With Him About CCSD!

I am out every day talking to people about how to fix CCSD and what it would mean to them.  I told Oscar that CCSD's horrible record is one more reason for people to leave and one more reason not to come here.  I'll be seeing him again soon.  He's such a great guy he took time out for this photo!  When the boom was on poor schools caused people to move out of the older areas to the outskirts, usually outside the city, where new schools were just built.  Now in the bust people move back to where they came from and the poorly run school district is another reason to do so.  It needs to be fixed for those reasons also.

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I Am a Citizen Activist.  Not a Politician!

As an activist, Ken apparently has the recent record for being cut off at the podium the most times by the Chairperson of the School Board.  Typically persons who speak positively about the Trustees decisions or are incoherent are allowed to speak a long time.  Ken has presented evidence of wrong doing and illegal activities to the Trustees, thereby being cut off at 2 minutes when 3 is the minimum allowed.  Ken has also reported CCSD shenanigans and illegal activities to the CCSD chief investigator, County Commission, Nevada Attorney General, CCSD Bond Oversight Committee, the press and just about anyone who will listen.  In 2009 he founded www.TalkToCCSD.com a web site dedicated to explaining where your money really goes and how the system really works.  Ken understands the "In's and Out's" of what the Trustees and top level Bureaucrats are up to and why only 34% of your tax dollar makes in to the actual classroom.

 

Ken Reports Money Wasting Shenanigans at the

School Board, Clark County and YouTube!

Here is how the bond money is being spent!!! At last a simple example of the kind of shenanigans that go on....!!! Today's lesson is how to get rid of our excess money! "What!!" you say? Yes, if your intention is to spend more for a product then it is actually worth then the best way to do that in a bid is to only allow one product to be used. That way the manufacturer can charge whatever he wants or whatever price has been agreed to privately. So at Clark County (not CCSD) they bid two carpet fibers (this same two) to get competitive bidding. At CCSD they wrote such a narrow focus specification that only one manufacturer can make the fiber. Why have a bid then? Because they think that the public can't figure it out. You will see multiple bidders.  But, they are INSTALLERS. What is the result? No matter what bid is low CCSD gets the same product. Is this carpet so incredibly special that they can't allow another?  No because the county allowed both.  Part 1 of 1 This is the link to the documents given to the County Commissioners

 

Personal Information

• Born Bronx New York 1957
• Married to Christine June Small
• Daughter Sarah Marie Small, attending Clarabelle Decker Elementary
• Parents Kenneth & Margaret Small (Deceased)
• K- 12 Education: Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania
• Graduated Texas Tech University with (5 year degree) Bachelor of Architecture Degree 1981
• Nevada licensed architect
• Licensed architect in other states Arizona, California & Indiana
• National Council of Architectural Registration Boards Certified 1987
• Licensed Texas Interior Designer 1987 (abandoned)
• Lived in Clark County 1990-93 and 1996 - Today
• First school project 1981
• First CCSD school projects Craig & Rowe Elementary additions 1992
• Winner of 7 awards related to schools and education
• Former president and founding director of CEFPI Las Vegas
• Former president and director of Construction Specifications Institute Las Vegas Chapter
• Certified REFP by CEFPI 2005
• LEED (Leadership in Energy Efficient Design) Accredited Professional
• Member of Las Vegas Elks Lodge 1468, Charleston Ave
• Architect of the first 100% daylighted classroom building in Clark County John S. Park
• Architect of 2 Sandy Valley Elementary / Middle School Daylighted classroom and library buildings
• Architect of Phased replacement project including 2 new buildings and many remodeled at Twin Lakes ES
• Architect of Mabel Hoggard Math Science Magnet School classroom and administration buildings
• Winner of Council of Educational Facilities Planners International  Monarch Award
• Owner of SSA Architecture, Small Studio Associates, LLC

I am the only Nevada licensed architect who is both a CEFPI Recognized Educational Facility Planner and a LEED (Leadership in Energy Efficient Design) Accredited Professional.