Campus to open 3 weeks behind schedule

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2005 | 11:03 a.m.

For the first time in recent memory, a new Clark County School District campus will not be ready in time for the start of the academic year.

Because of construction-related delays, the new Joseph E. Thiriot Elementary School will open Sept. 19 instead of Aug. 29 with the 10 other new campuses.

Thiriot's academic year will run through June 28 while the rest of the district's nine-month schools will finish three weeks earlier. Letters explaining the revised school calendar are being mailed to families whose children are to attend Thiriot.

District officials said while the school structure is complete various work, such as the wiring, including fire safety systems, remains.

"We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause parents and students zoned for Thiriot Elementary School," said Paul Gerner, associate superintendent of the district's facilities division, in a prepared statement. "We understand the challenges this will cause parents and we are working with the construction company to make sure all requirements are met. It is important to ensure Thiriot students have a safe environment."

Located at 5700 West Harmon Ave., west of Decatur and south of Flamingo, Thiriot is a new two-story prototype designed for smaller sites in urban areas. Roche Constructors is the general contractor on the $17 million project.

The Thiriot project was behind schedule from the beginning. The school's 10-acre site wasn't selected until January 2004, more than two years later than originally planned. There were also delays, Gerner said, in earth-moving, and ordering materials, and there were more rainy days than usual.

Doug Olson, project manager for Roche Constructors, declined to comment Monday except to confirm that the school would be ready by Sept. 19.

The district is nearly two-thirds of the way through a 10-year, $3.5 billion capital improvement plan approved by voters in 1998. At least 10 new schools have been opened in each of the last four years.

Fred Smith, construction manager for the district, said he could not recall any time in his 14-year tenure that a school wasn't ready in time.

"This is a unique situation, and, hopefully, one that won't be repeated," Smith said.

Having the school year run three weeks late is better than having another campus go to double sessions in order to accommodate Thiriot's students, said Barbara Moody, the District F representative to the district's Attendance Zone Advisory Committee which includes the southwest region and Thiriot. The committee advises the school board on school attendance boundaries.

She recalled when her own children had to endure double sessions at Johnson Junior High School in the early 1990s after the district closed its sixth grade centers.

"You want kids to have their own classroom and their own school," Moody said.

The fact that the district is announcing the three-week extension to Thiriot's calendar before the school year even starts should give parents time to plan accordingly, Moody said.

Clark County School Board member Shirley Barber, whose district includes Thiriot, said she was surprised to learn Monday that the school would not be ready. While families may not mind the extra vacation time now, when June rolls around there may be some complaints, Barber said.

"It's unfortunate that parents might have some hassles because of this," Barber said.

With about half of the district's elementary schools on year-round calendars, many students are already used to being on different vacation schedules than their friends, Barber said.

"Hopefully they'll be OK with it," Barber said. "Sometimes these things happen, I'm not happy about it but it happens."