Eight new schools open when classes start Monday

Friday, Aug. 20, 1999 | 4:31 a.m.

School officials will tell you the Clark County School District is in the business of providing the building blocks for a good, strong education for Southern Nevada's youths.

But it seems in the last decade that the district has been as much in the business of providing building blocks of a less philosophical variety -- the kind used to construct classrooms for an ever-burgeoning student population.

On Monday eight schools built at a cost of greater than $153 million will come open as the 1999-2000 school year gets under way.

School officials say they are not expecting opening-day problems similar to last year when eight other schools opened after a rush to complete construction, resulting in air-conditioning outages and one school failing its final building inspection.

"Everything is going fine and should be ready for Monday," said Fred Smith, manager for contracts and construction for the school district.

"Year after year we have made a concerted effort to get these projects going earlier. Only one school (Ollie Detwiler Elementary) is running late because the construction bids were awarded later. But it should be ready too."

The four new elementary schools are Detwiler in central northwest Las Vegas, Keith C. and Karen W. Hayes in southwest Las Vegas, Lorna J. Kesterson in Henderson and Joseph M. Neal in northwest Las Vegas.

The new junior high school is Clifford J. Lawrence in southwest Las Vegas.

The three new high schools are Centennial in northwest Las Vegas, Desert Pines in central northeast Las Vegas and Foothill in Henderson.

The elementary schools were built for about $7.8 million each will house between 600 and 700 students. The junior high was built for just under $19.5 million and will house 1,300 students.

The high schools cost from $30 million to $36 million and will house between 1,300 and 2,200 students. There will be no senior classes the first year.

"These projects were the result of just one factor -- the continued need for seats," Smith said. "Next year we will add two more middle schools and four elementary schools."

Gary Namba, Detwiler principal, is opening his second new school, but has been principal at older schools too, such as 38-year-old C.T. Sewell in Henderson.

"It's difficult to say which I like better because old and new schools each have their advantages," said Namba, who has been a teacher and principal in the district for 25 years. "With an older school you have foundation and traditions. With new schools you are the foundation and you start the traditions.

"My job as principal is to establish a good atmosphere for children to learn, whether it is at a new school like this or an older one. I've always felt that being a school principal is the best job in the world. And I look forward to each new school year with great anticipation."

Bonds were passed in 1988, 1994 and 1996, totaling $1.8 billion to build 98 schools and renovate existing ones. A $3.5 billion bond passed in 1998 to build 88 more schools -- including 16 high schools -- make $854 million worth of renovations and provide $115 million for land acquisition.

Foothill is the last school to be built under the 1994 building program. The rest were built from 1996 bond money.

Additions to 51 school are under construction -- 39 elementary schools, two middle schools and 10 high schools. Forty-one are expected to be complete by Monday, the other 10 by December, officials said.

The additions are among the 95 school renovations approved under the 1996 bond. When completed, the additions will create nearly 14,000 more seats in the district. Sixty-three of these projects are at older elementary schools and will provide rooms for music, computers, art and special education, the district says.

Nineteen middle schools and 13 high schools will benefit from the construction project that began in August 1998 and is expected to be completed next year.

Permanent campuses are opening at Horizon High School North, 602 W. Brooks Ave.; North Las Vegas; and Horizon High School South, 5300 E. Russell Road, Henderson.

Throughout this school year, 30 campuses will be getting face lifts, including the renovation of classrooms, construction of new restrooms, exterior work and the installation of energy-efficient lights, new ceilings and carpeting, heating and air-conditioning systems.