More school-construction funds eyed

By Emily Richmond

Friday, May 27, 2005 | 9:46 a.m.

With sites now identified for the last of 50 elementary schools and 22 middle schools slated to be built under their 1998 capital plan, Clark County School District officials said Thursday it's time to start discussing going back to voters for additional construction funds.

Voters in 1998 approved letting the district sell bonds to pay for construction and also extended a portion of the property tax that was due to sunset. That allowed the district to plan on raising $3.5 billion over 10 years for 72 new schools. Thanks in part to soaring property values, the district now plans to conclude the 1998 program with 90 new schools and 11 replacement campuses.

But even those extra schools may not be enough. Based on the latest enrollment predictions, Clark County could be short as many as eight elementary schools by 2008, the year the current bond measure ends, said Dusty Dickens, director of zoning, demographics and real property for the district.

The classroom seat deficit could more than double by 2009 to 23 schools or 16,454 seats, Dickens said. The district accelerated many school openings by one or more years which may have given some people a false sense of security about seating availability, Dickens said.

To avoid the seating shortage the district has several options, Dickens said.

"We can build more schools, we can put more campuses on year-round schedules or we could go to double sessions," Dickens said. "The last choice isn't something that any of us wants to see happen."

It's also likely that some schools that had hoped to switch to nine-month schedules will continue to operate year-round, Dickens said.

School Board President Larry Mason said he was concerned about public reaction to the news that school schedules could change.

"It's almost like holding the parents hostage," Mason said. "It's like we're saying, 'If you don't give us the bonds we're going to have to go to year-round calendars.' "

School Board member Sheila Moulton, the liaison to the Bond Oversight Committee, said the group's meeting last week centered on the timing of the next bond measure and the potential community response to the request. Several members of the committee voiced concerns similar to Mason's, Moulton said.

"That's why we need to educate the public that we have come out and built these schools early and done everything in our power to work with what the communities wanted us to do," Moulton said.

It's also critical that the district complete as much of the pending work under the 1998 plan as possible before going back to voters, Superintendent Carlos Garcia said.

"That's one of the big questions, how do you go out to the public if you still have hundreds of millions of dollars that you still need to spend for modernization and rehab," Garcia said "You have to really push to finish most of the projects so you go out there with a real need."

Agustin Orci, deputy superintendent of instruction, said "earnest planning" for the next bond measure will be a priority when he and Deputy Superintendent of Operations Walt Rulffes take over as co-interim superintendents in July following Garcia's resignation.