Court: Judge ‘disfavored’ religious school

Divorce fight over child’s education sent back to Family Court

A Las Vegas Family Court judge should have been more thorough when considering the best school for a child wrapped up in her parent’s divorce, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

In a nine-page decision, the high court listed 10 bullet points for District Court judges to consider when determining where to send a child to school.

“The school that accords with the child’s best interest does not necessarily mean the most expensive or the highest ranked school,” Justice Lidia Stiglich wrote in the court’s unanimous decision. “It means the school best tailored to the needs of the particular child.”

During September arguments in the case, members of the court expressed frustration over the lack of a record in which Melissa Arcella wanted her 12-year-old daughter, identified in court documents as

RA, to attend public school, while the girl’s father, Matthew Arcella, wanted her to attend Faith Lutheran, a private religious school.

Clark County Family Court Judge Lisa Brown initially ruled that it was in the child’s best interests to attend both schools, but that was not feasible.

An evidentiary hearing at the Family Court level could have cleared up the questions about what is in the child’s best interests, the Supreme Court decision stated.

“The district court disfavored religion rather than acting neutrally toward it,” Stiglich’s wrote, sending the case back to Brown. “In trying to steer clear of constitutional issues, however, the district court collided head-on with the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause by disfavoring religion. Rather than a substantive determination of (RA’S) best interests, the district court’s only ‘finding’ amounts to a judicial shrug, which is insufficient to satisfy the district court’s duty to make specific factual findings regarding the child’s best interest.”

Matthew Arcella’s attorney, Bruce Shapiro, said the high court “made the absolute right decision” in its

SCHOOL

recalls her mother telling her. “‘So (if ) I take you to the hospital then I’m going to have to actually put gas in the car, and that’s going to be the last three dollars that this family has for like a week.’”

Instead, her mother removed the glass shard, wrapped her hand in a dish towel and taped it up.

Brooks said her stepfather was around for much of her childhood, but his relationship with her mother

turned abusive.

“That’s another reason that we moved,” Brooks said. “If it wasn’t eviction, it was sometimes they broke up and then you’d have to have a place to live.”

Brooks is the only child in her family to graduate from high school. She attributes that to stability she finally found in the 10th grade, when she consistently attended the same school. Her older sister didn’t experience that, she said, and her younger sister became pregnant in junior high school.

But she doesn’t give herself all the credit for climbing out of poverty, saying she was very lucky.

“Every teacher in the school knew that I had problems,” she said. “I was very respectful though, and teachers, even though I missed way more days than was allowable to get credit, they passed me anyways.”

Higher education

For months on the School Board, the public didn’t hear more than a peep from Brooks.

That’s the opposite of the outspoken go-getter that her friends describe.

“She’s got a really quirky personality,” said Diana Equipado, who worked with Brooks as a waitress on the Strip for about nine years. “It’s hard to describe, she’s just crazy. She speaks her mind a lot, she doesn’t hold back at all.”

Brooks, who moved with her husband to Las Vegas in 2002, took 10 years to complete her bachelor’s degree while waiting tables. Then she tacked on a master’s degree in social work.

Her past experience has certainly shaped her opinion as a School Board member.

She considers education as an

equalizing factor for those in poverty and knows the disadvantages that beset families that don’t understand that.

Brooks has to walk a fine line to balance her public responsibilities and career. She works for the Beacon Academy charter school as a student data analyst, yet serves on a board dedicated to traditional public schools. The board was fiercely against the controversial Achievement School District initiative, which paired underperforming district schools with charters.

But Brooks brushes aside the rivalry, arguing that both charters and traditional public schools need to work together to do what’s in the best interest for all students.

“A lot of these students that come to especially the school that I work at, it’s not like they come here with a clean slate — they come from other schools and they come with their own unique set of challenges,” she said. “If schools were able to address those challenges, then the need for charter schools wouldn’t exist.”

Brooks, who has a 10-year-old son in the district, has slowly grown into her role as trustee. She said the district must reach out to families in poverty more regularly and not only hear the voices of those who regularly attend School Board meetings.

“If we don’t do more for those families then we’re probably never going to see real meaningful change in education,” she said. “But to do that, we actually have to meet people where they are, and we have to address the concerns that they actually have.”

Contact Amelia Pak-harvey at apak-harvey@reviewjournal. com or 702-383-4630. Follow @ Ameliapakharvey on Twitter.