A rural community outside of Las Vegas has presented a proposal to a state advisory committee that would create a separate school district with a five-member school board and a superintendent, according to the Las Vegas Sun and the Associated Press.
The new district would represent nearly 1,700 students in two elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school in three rural towns northeast of Las Vegas. Those schools are currently part of the Clark County school district, which is one of the largest in the nation. Supporters of the breakaway district say the current school system is unresponsive to needs of the community.
Although Nevada has one of the smallest populations of rural students, the rural population is largely comprised of minority students and English-language learners. The state also has the highest mobility rate for rural students and more than 47 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, according to the Rural School and Community Trust.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, other parts of Clark County, such as the City of Henderson, have tried to leave the Clark County school system for more than a decade. In June, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval signed a bill that created an advisory committee, which has been tasked with reorganizing the district by 2017.