Legislative panel skirts class size, looks at junk food, charter school issues

CARSON CITY - A legislative study panel has backed efforts to improve Nevada's charter school law and get students to eat less junk food.

But the Legislative Committee on Education skirted a plan for more flexibility in the state's $87 million-a-year class-size-reduction program.

One bill draft, adopted Tuesday, would direct the State Board of Education to adopt a statewide policy on sale of soft drinks and candy at schools ''consistent with adopted state academic standards on health education.''

''What we're looking at is the adolescents of our society, especially in Nevada, being some of the most unhealthy eaters we have,'' said Assemblywoman Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas. ''We're contributing to that with the vending machines in the schools. The suggestion is to replace the unhealthy food being subjected on them with healthy food.''

The proposal was opposed by state Sen. Maurice Washington, R-Sparks, who said the issue is one of choice.

''Couldn't we just allow health food machines to be next to the junk food machines?'' he asked. ''This looks like it precludes them from doing that.''

The committee reviewed 40 possible bill drafts for submission to the 2001 Legislature, but most of the recommendations didn't even come up for a vote. That included two different proposals for the costly class-size-reduction program now in place in at-risk kindergartens and in the first, second and third grades in most school districts.

The lower teacher-pupil ratios in these grades is costing $87 million this year and increases every year with higher enrollment.

After several failures to reach agreement on charter school legislation, the committee approved some changes, including one regarding independent study. That issue put a Las Vegas charter school into funding jeopardy last year.

The Odyssey Charter School in Las Vegas saw its state funding cut drastically when education officials counted its enrollment as lower than reported because of the school's instructional program that had students do most of their learning at home on computers.

The change would allow charter schools to operate independent study programs, subject to the independent study statutes and regulations.

Lawmakers couldn't agree on a proposal to give school districts the discretion to allow home-schooled or private school students to participate in public school sports programs.

Washington pushed for the idea, but it was opposed by Assemblywoman Marcia de Braga, D-Fallon, who said home-schooled or private school students are not held to the same level of accountability regarding attendance and grades demanded of public school students to participate in sports.