CCSD superintendent delivers last State of the Schools address
It was no accident Pat Skorkowsky chose Legacy High School as the site of his last State of the Schools address.
Skorkowsky, who will step down as Clark County School District superintendent at the end of June, played a supporting role during Wednesday’s two-hour extravaganza highlighting the achievements of the past year as well as progress toward long-term performance goals. He spent most of time off stage, letting other district, community and student leaders tells the story of the district’s history, and its future.
But his imprint on the district where he has worked for 30 years — including the last five as its leader — was present throughout.
“Pat does not like to talk about his accomplishments,” School Board President Deanna Wright noted at one point during the event that was part celebration, part going-away party. “He has definitely inspired something in me and I know that his mark on this district as a whole will continue to build learners, leaders and legacies for years to come.”
Other speakers included Mack Middle School Principal Roxanne James and her therapy dog, Legacy High School senior Shanya Espy and community partners such as Cesar Lemos, the executive director of the Harbor, which provides services for students to try to keep them out of the juvenile justice system.
Videos detailed the work being done at schools, including the school organizational team — a product of the state-mandated reorganization of the school district — at Canarelli Middle School. Social media posts celebrating the district were flashed on a screen onstage.
Legacy High School choir, orchestra and guitar ensembles performed, an all-female JROTC group from Cheyenne High School presented the flag and first-grade students from Ruby Duncan Elementary School recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
District goals
Officials ran through the six goals in the district’s long-term strategic plan, known as the Pledge of Achievement. Certain goals, like having more students reach certain college- and career-readiness benchmarks, have already been met. Others, like closing the gap between the performance of the highest-achieving students and the lowest-achieving students, are still works in progress.
“We have students who have obstacles weighing on their shoulders, but we know we can improve their results,” said chief academic officer Mike Barton.
But the event was about more than numbers.
Emmanuel Berrelleza, a Class of 2017 Las Vegas High School graduate, returned from New Hampshire, where he attends Dartmouth University on a scholarship. The son of undocumented immigrants, whose father worked in California for a time while his mother held down three jobs in Las Vegas to support their eight children, Berrelleza gave thanks to the exceptional teachers he had, noting that they didn’t just focus on academics. He also said his story should be the norm, not the exception.
“As a school district, we shouldn’t just strive to graduate our students. We should strive to mold them into the leaders that this country desperately needs,” he said.
As the district moves forward choosing a new leader this spring, Skorkowsky’s motto of serving “every student in every classroom, without exception and without excuses,” may no longer be the watchwords of a CCSD education.
But Skorkowsky, in his relatively brief time on the stage, said he hopes it provides a strong building block for whomever comes next.
He said he plans to remain in Nevada and to continue working on the education issues — closing achievement gaps, lobbying for more funding, among others — but doesn’t want to take a leadership role at any organization.
“From the bottom of my heart, thank you all for the support for all of these years,” he said in closing. “Thank you for being a strong partner with the Clark County School District and thank you for ensuring the success of every student, in every classroom without exception and without excuses.”
Contact Meghin Delaney at mdelaney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0281. Follow @MeghinDelaney on Twitter.
Hits and misses
Here’s how the district is faring on the six goals in its Pledge of Achievement:
Achievement gap: The highest-achieving students in elementary school outperformed the lowest-achieving elementary students by 27 percentage points in math and 24 percentage points in reading, according to the latest data. The district wants to narrow that gap to just 5 percentage points.
For middle schools, the gap was 30 percentage points in both math and reading. Officials aim to close the gaps to 16 and 8 percentage points, respectively.
Read by Grade 3: In 2017, 46 percent of students were proficient in reading by the end of third grade, based on state testing. The goal is 80 percent.
Engagement: The district, which uses a “climate and culture” survey to determine progress, reported 87 percent of parents who responded felt informed and welcome at their child’s school. That goal was 93 percent.
Student safety: About 78 percent of students reported feeling safe and 83 percent reported feeling happy at school. They’d like to nudge those figures up to 93 percent as well.
Graduation rate: The class of 2017 graduation rate was 83 percent, surpassing the goal of 82 percent.
College and Career Ready: The district aims to have 31,850 students complete either an Advanced Placement or College and Career Readiness course each year. In 2016, 36,870 students completed a course.
