The Washoe County School Board has their hands full with a lot of decisions to be made.
On Tuesday, trustees discussed possible school rezones in the Spanish Springs area, adding a new Chief of Schools position, and a final draft presentation of the district-wide Facility Modernization Plan.
Trustees rejected creating the role 6-1 with some arguing the academic office is already in overload with all the other new positions recently added. Others argued they are already busy with the new three-year plan going into place that was recently introduced by Superintendent Enfield. Plus, with Doctor Enfield resigning they feel they should wait to see what the new superintendent has planned once they found someone.
As we've been following, the role would have overseen the elementary and secondary associate chiefs who are responsible for the district's principals, and also advise the superintendent.
The board may have already voted to not implement a permanent Chief of Staff position, but they did say yes to new student enrollment zones in the Spanish Springs area. One of the main reasons these new zones are being put into place is because Sky Ranch Middle School is overcrowded.
Spanish Springs Elementary and Van Gorder will relieve Bohach Elementary, and Van Gorder Elementary will remain with Sky Ranch.
The rezoning also makes it so that Big Stonebrook aligns to feed into Shaw with the rest of Spanish Springs Elementary, plus Beasley from Sky Ranch to Mendive Middle.
None of these new zones will affect any of the high schools. No new variances will be accepted into the new rezone school year. However previous variances will remain active. These new school zones are planned to go into place at the start of the 2024-25 school year.
The school district hired CannonDesign to recommend a plan for improving school buildings over the next 15 years.
Their plan lists specific school sites that will have brand new buildings or major additions and renovations. Some of those schools include Anderson and Booth Elementary; Pine, Sparks, and Traner Middle; and Wooster High.
After that is finished, some schools will need to be rezoned and old buildings will be repurposed into something other than schools. Some schools that may be repurposed are Drake, Dunn, and Peavine Elementary.
All other schools that are not candidates for rebuilding or consolidating would receive different level of investments for revitalization and general maintenance depending on age, condition, and Special Ed, and financial status.
No decisions are being made tonight regarding this last item. It is simply a presentation on the final draft. Further decisions on this will be made in future meetings.
