Nye County School Board Area III Trustee Debbie Wescoatt will have two challengers in the Tuesday primary: Larry Lackey and Mike Floyd.

The top two vote-getters will proceed to the Nov. 7 general election in the non-partisan race. It's the only school board race that will be contested in the primary.

Deborah Wescoatt

Wescoatt, 49, was appointed to fill a vacancy on the school board left by the resignation of Betty Davenport in 1996. She is a 1975 Pahrump Valley High School graduate.

Wescoatt said she has lived in the Pahrump Valley since 1973. She worked for the Nye County School District as a bus driver for 10 years, then became a special education advocate. The last three years of her 10-year term, she has been board president.

Wescoatt said she's pursuing a professional degree program for public officials, taking classes in construction law and school law.

"During legislative sessions I'm in and out of Carson City. I've been the legislative chairman for quite a few years," Wescoatt said. The last session, school board officials lobbied for Invest, a school program, and all-day kindergarten.

Wescoatt said she's been appointed by state school board members to a special education advisory committee.

"We've been able to secure a superintendent who's committed to education. It can be visibly seen now. We have raised test scores, we have lowered class sizes," Wescoatt said.

"We negotiated for a school to be built by one of the developers, America West. We are in negotiations now with the rest. We were successful in getting the county commissioners to implement a new construction tax, which has helped the district in refitting, fixing and replacing classrooms," Wescoatt said. She said 23 new modulars will be installed this year, in a school district growing by 500 elementary students per year.

In the 10 years since Wescoatt has been on the board, Rosemary Clarke Middle and Hafen Elementary schools have opened. The school board will open bids soon for Floyd Elementary School. School district officials hope to pass a bond issue to build another elementary school in 2008, and Wescoatt said by 2010, a vocational technical center may take shape.

"I've successfully convinced the board by going to a plant that manufactures permanent, modular buildings, which is different than modular, to cut our construction costs down," she said.

Wescoatt hopes to see the vocational technical center completed in what she said will be her last term allowed by law. It would include modules where students can learn construction trades, retail business, health care and culinary skills.

Two schools in the district are listed as in need of improvement by the No Child Left Behind Program - Manse Elementary School in Pahrump and Amargosa Valley Elementary School. But Wescoatt said they were listed as making adequate yearly progress, thanks to hard work by the school staff, and will be taken off the list entirely next year if the progress continues.

Larry L. Lackey

Larry L. Lackey, 63, moved to Pahrump in 2002. He is a U.S. Navy veteran of 30 years, having served two tours of duty in Vietnam.

Lackey retired after 22 years of repairing school buses and performing other mechanical work for the Clark County School District. He has been coming to Pahrump for the Harvest Festival and dirt-racing for 15 years. Lackey has a daughter attending Pahrump Valley High School.

"I would like to see more vocational trades taught at the high school. Not everyone, especially the lower-income people, are going to go to college," Lackey said. "I'd like to see a gifted program put into effect for the children that are more gifted. I don't want their learning abilities to be held back by putting them in the mainstream."

Lackey said the Nye County School District should broaden its search for more funding to relieve the burden on taxpayers. He said the Clark County School District receives a lot of grants Nye County school officials may not be aware of. Developers should also pay more, he said.

"I would like to see more parents participation in the school board meetings," Lackey said. "One of the problems is the school board meets at 10 a.m. Friday. So a lot of parents can't get there."

Lackey said while he worked in the auto shop, he attended Clark County School District meetings as a representative of the support staff union. He also was involved in school board meetings because he had children attending school in the district.

"I do have experience at getting involved in some school district's policy making," Lackey said.

Mike Floyd

Mike Floyd, 41, is a lifetime resident of Pahrump and graduated from Pahrump Valley High School in 1983. He received his bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1991.

Floyd is part owner of Floyd Construction with his brother Bruce.

"We got a lot of growth happening in the school district, schools being built. We do underground construction, utility-type work and I worked on some of the schools that were built. We're also land developers so I felt I had some knowledge in building trades and land development. I thought I could help make sure we get the best deal on new developments," Floyd said.

"I really want to take a look at this new school construction and make sure we're getting the best deal for our tax dollars," he said.

A planned new elementary school is named after his parents, Ron and Charlotte Floyd, who moved to Pahrump Valley in 1963.

"We need to hire a superintendent to take care of the staff, and I'm not going to be some sort of micro-manager that's down there trying to tell teachers how to do their jobs. They're professionals and we trust they can do their job, and if they can't, we talk to the superintendent," Floyd said.

Floyd also wants the school board meetings moved to a time when the public can attend.

"I have a hard time getting to a meeting myself. I know there's a lot of school district employees who'd like to get to a meeting, they can't," he said.

Floyd's wife is a teacher in the district. He has a 15-year-old child who will enroll as a sophomore at Pahrump Valley High School this fall, while two other of his children graduated with honors.

Floyd's construction business has been a major donor to the sports program. He said talk about eliminating middle school athletics was a major reason he decided to run for the position.

"I believe that athletics, they need to be in the school. We need to have athletics programs. You see these kids all the time, when they're in sports, they get a passing grade," Floyd said.

There are a few other reasons he cited for running. Wescoatt has served in the position 10 years. Floyd said, "Maybe it's time for her to go on and do something else with her life.

"I felt like you're out here and you're making a living, paying your taxes and nobody really wants to do the public service thing. I just felt like it's time I did my share," Floyd said. "I take a lot of pride, that's where I graduated. My brother was in the first graduating class of Pahrump Valley High School. We take a real interest in our school."

But he added, "If I do get elected, I may step on some toes because I'm not politically correct. I say what I think."