School board picks first black president

Bernice Moten, 1973-76. James Gay III, 1976. Virginia Brewster, 1977-84. John Rhodes, 1992. Yvonne Gates, 1985-1992. James McMillan, 1992-96. Shirley Barber, 1996-2008.

Like Young, they’re all black. But their terms on the board of the Clark County School District don’t overlap. The board has had only one minority member at a time, and each represented District C, which encompasses much of West Las Vegas and North Las Vegas and includes large populations of black residents. 

“I know every one of them,” she said, recalling what her predecessors said it was like to be the only black on the board. “It was pretty contentious from time to time, a lot of hostility.”

On Wednesday, Young accomplished something they never could when she was unanimously selected as the board president, the first black to have that office.

“I want to point out the ones who came before me,” she said, emphasizing that they blazed the trail for her, some trying for the president’s seat but never making it. “I hope the day comes when this won’t be a big step.”

The district has undergone drastic change since 1973, when a U.S. district judge ordered Clark County schools to be desegregated and Moten became the first black board member.

It has tripled in enrollment to 308,000 students to become the country’s fifth-largest school district. Hispanics surpassed white students as the largest group in Clark County schools in 2006, now making up 42 percent of district students. Whites now account for 32 percent of district students, and blacks are the third-largest group, at 12 percent.

Last year, Dwight Jones was named the first black superintendent since Claude Perkins in 1978-1981.

The racial tension within the board has disappeared, said Young, who is the only non-white board member and was elected to represent District C three years ago.

Young will be replaced as the board’s vice president by Deanna Wright. The board voted John Cole as clerk.

Previous Board President Carolyn Edwards said she was not interested in any officer positions because she is now president of the Nevada Association of School Boards. Board member Erin Cranor will be the state association’s legislative director.

Young has worked in the district for 32 years, as a school psychologist, special education consultant, dean at Clark High School, assistant principal at Rancho High School, principal at Mackey Magnet School and director of the Equity and Diversity Education Department.

But she never planned to be a politician, she said.

“To be honest with you, I was a little concerned sitting out here,” she said as she pointed to the empty audience seats after Wednesday’s board meeting.

She might be sitting up front at the board table now, but she’s still concerned, especially for teachers, she said. They are getting a bad rap, she said.

Teachers are caught in a tough position as the district, trying to cut costs, asks them to take a pay freeze or lose 1,000 jobs.

“I know how hard it is to be a teacher,” she said.

Young, a spiritual person, described the choice to run for a board seat as “a calling.” But it was a call she was reluctant to answer.

“It wouldn’t let me go, kept gnawing at me,” she said, emphasizing that the School Board isn’t a political stepping-stone for her but the goal, a chance to do good and give back. “At the end of the day, we have to give testimony for what we did in our lives.”

Contact reporter Trevon Milliard at tmilliard@review
journal.com or 702-383-0279.