Principal says she’s not running for herself in Las Vegas council race

Michelee Quiroz Cruz-Crawford has been a main for 4 years and a schoolhouse head for seven. She precocious passed serviceman grooming arsenic a caller subordinate of the Nevada Air National Guard.

Now, Cruz-Crawford, who leads Ronnow Elementary School successful eastbound Las Vegas, has acceptable her sights connected representing the 100,000-plus residents successful the sprawling northwest Ward 6 connected the Las Vegas City Council.

“I’m not moving for myself,” she said during an aboriginal December interview. “I’m truly moving due to the fact that I cognize I tin bash a fantastic occupation connected the City Council. I emotion our city.”

Building a divers background

Unlike different candidates to state for the spot frankincense far, including Las Vegas Planning Commission Chairman Lou DeSalvio and Metropolitan Police Department homicide Lt. Ray Spencer, Cruz-Crawford’s introduction into the contention was not a caller decision, nor was it influenced by the incumbent’s prime not to question re-election. The ward’s existent councilwoman, Michele Fiore, is campaigning to beryllium the adjacent governor.

Instead, Cruz-Crawford, 38, said a assembly tally has been thing she has been moving toward for a agelong time, starting the process astir 5 years ago.

She pursued a doctorate successful enactment and argumentation to broaden her skills and said she is close, lone needing to support her dissertation. She joined the military, wherever she has been progressive successful issues connected diverseness and inclusion. And she has worked with ReInvent Schools Las Vegas, a concern betwixt the metropolis and Clark County School District, to amended acquisition opportunities for students successful underserved simple schools.

“It conscionable makes consciousness to benignant of person idiosyncratic that has a precise divers background,” she said, adding that the property was excessively often missing successful politics.

A deficiency of radical diverseness prompted her to propulsion for precocious passed authorities authorities that provides schoolhouse enactment unit with much opportunities to prosecute becoming licensed teachers. Cruz-Crawford said she had noticed that teachers were mostly achromatic astatine her predominantly Hispanic school, portion paraeducators were much divers and reflective of the pupil population.

‘More effective’ attack than Fiore

As she moves guardant with her campaign, Cruz-Crawford said she is listening to the concerns of residents. She has heard issues astir h2o access, overdevelopment, affordable lodging and transgression specified arsenic car thefts and vandalism.

“They privation harmless spaces,” she said. “They privation cleanable spaces.”

Cruz-Crawford said she wanted to guarantee that programs, specified arsenic rental assistance, were amended communicated to the nationalist and that determination was much assemblage outreach successful Ward 6. She besides noted that establishing partnerships was important to make much backing for metropolis initiatives.

When asked what she thought astir Fiore’s practice of the ward, Cruz-Crawford said she did not privation to beryllium “divisive,” adding that Fiore had ever been benignant to her students.

“We person precise antithetic ways of approaching things,” she said. “I deliberation mine’s much effective.”

Assessing schoolhouse territory shortcomings

Las Vegas-area schools were recently ranked second-worst for schoolhouse quality among the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas, performing poorly successful world growth, precocious schoolhouse graduation complaint and maturation among disadvantaged students, according to a study by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The territory needs to place what it is doing incorrect and look astatine critiques, Cruz-Crawford said, and she reinforces what is moving and what is not with her teachers. She acknowledged that morale tin diminution amid systemic organizational issues.

But she said she has remained resilient and recovered affirmative feedback for successes to beryllium arsenic important arsenic constructive feedback. Her schoolhouse has avoided districtwide and nationwide struggles with unit retention during her tenure, she said.

Cruz-Crawford said her governmental level volition yet beryllium informed by talks underway with Ward 6 residents, and she suggested that she was unafraid to face hard problems.

When students were told they had to determination to online learning astatine the opening of the pandemic, and galore did not person computers oregon internet, she said she reached retired to lawmakers and helped bring broadband connectivity into the assemblage via the $1 trillion infrastructure bill.

“If determination is idiosyncratic retired determination that would bash a amended occupation than me,” she said, “I decidedly privation them to win.”

The campaigner filing play for nonjudicial races successful 2022 begins March 7. The superior predetermination is June 14.

Contact Shea Johnson astatine sjohnson@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-383-0272. Follow @Shea_LVRJ connected Twitter.