Sandy Valley residents seeking high school

Tuesday, Oct. 13, 1998 | 11:01 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Residents of the small community of Sandy Valley, near the Nevada-California border, hope to be the first in Clark County to start a charter school.

It's nearly a 100-mile round trip each school day for high school students to attend classes in Las Vegas. For the past 10 years, there's been a consistent 80 percent dropout rate, according Margot Allaire, a member of the non-profit Sandy-Mesquite Valley Educational Foundation.

The foundation plans to file its application this week with the state Department of Education as the initial step to open classes in September 1999. If approved by the state, the application must then be cleared by the Clark County School Board.

Keith Rheault, deputy state superintendent of public instruction, said the charter school process takes about six months for the reviews to be completed.

Currently there is only one charter school in Nevada, which was opened after a 1997 law allowed the alternative to public schools. The school, called "I Can Do Anything," is located in Reno.

Sandy Valley is home to about 3,700 residents and a Clark County School District combination elementary and middle school.

But when it comes time to go to classes at Durango High School, for some "it's a culture shock," Allaire said.

Ray Willis, spokesman for the Clark County School District, said there are about 55 students from Sandy Valley transported to Durango every day.

The district has no plans to build a high school in Sandy Valley, Willis added.

Parents from Sandy Valley were the first in the state to submit an application for a charter school last year, but they didn't meet the requirements outlined in the new law.

The foundation has its eye on 10 acres -- controlled by the Bureau of Land Management -- on which to build the school.

Plans call for ninth and 10th graders to begin classes next year. In 2000, the 11th grade would begin and the 12th grade the following year.

The charter school advocates, however, must raise the needed funds to see their plans turn into reality.

Cost estimates show it will take $5 million for buildings and operating expenses over a five-year period, Allaire said.

"We need $200,000 to open the doors next year," she said.