Editorial: New school a priority

Tuesday, May 24, 2005 | 9:04 a.m.

Enrollment at four of the five comprehensive (as opposed to magnet) high schools in the Clark County School District's east region is projected to greatly exceed the school buildings' capacity by August. This will make Desert Pines, Eldorado, Las Vegas and Valley high schools the most overcrowded schools in the district.

There is no immediate solution, other than rezoning some of the students, meaning they would be bused to other crowded high schools. Vacant land upon which to build a school is a commodity that does not exist in this region, which is bounded by Interstate 15 on the west, Owens Avenue on the north, Tropicana Avenue on the south and the Sunrise Mountain area on the east.

Lack of long-range planning is not the case here. It's planning that enabled the high schools and several middle schools and elementary schools to get built over the past several years in this older area of Las Vegas. Development here goes back more than 40 years, before today's growth was anticipated and before setting aside land for schools was a requirement.

Today the area's housing is mostly older homes, many occupied by more than one family, and older apartments. And the Las Vegas Wash and Nellis Air Force Base take up a lot of land, limiting where schools can go. Nevertheless, the district is negotiating with property owners to buy 40 contiguous acres, enough to contain another high school that ideally would open by the 2008-2009 school year.

We hope the negotiations go well. But if it appears they will drag on for an unreasonably long time, given the critical need for a new high school, we believe the district should use its eminent-domain powers to force the sale of the land at fair market value.