Overcrowding in Washoe County Schools is a serious problem - that's what district officials tell Channel 2 News.
The last time a new school was built in Washoe County was Depoali Middle School back in 2008. The district says they didn't need to build new schools during The Great Recession, but now that we're out, the schools are reaching full capacity.
The Washoe County School District held a public meeting Thursday night at Double Diamond Elementary School to get feedback about this problem.
Brown and Double Diamond Elementary schools are facing huge overcrowding problems in the cafeterias, hallways, and classrooms. Parents heard some of the possible fixes to this issue, but one thing going forward is clear to all.
"We have to have more schools," said Jeff Hurlbert, a parent of two students at Double Diamond.
Double Diamond Elementary School is one of the most crowded schools in the district, at 125% capacity.
"We are at a point where it's getting very uncomfortable. Whenever we have to trigger a new allocation, we have to find new classrooms and we're getting a point where we're limited in the classrooms we can provide," said Chad Hicks, the Area 5 Superintendent for WCSD.
District wide, experts say the growth projections going forward is looking to be one thousand new students per year for next 10 years.
"So we're trying to get prepared for that, we haven't had the resources to build new schools. So we're having to live with what we have, and that's going to put us in a very difficult situation," said Pete Etchart, the Chief Operations Officer for WCSD.
A number of parents are voicing their concerns about their children's education and safety.
"People are going to pull their kids out of school. That's the only option they're going to have. I don't think anyone wants to send their kid to a classroom that has 40 kids in it," said Hurlbert.
This is what the district is considering:
Switching school calendars to a multi-track system
Schools start at staggered times
Schools have double sessions
"The worst scenario is double sessions especially at the high school level where you have a morning session and an evening session," said Etchart.
But these are just ideas. That's it. It's not a reality, yet, but overcrowding is. The tax increase from this legislative session raised money for school's operating budgets. Those budgets fund things like teachers and books. A capital budget goes towards improving old schools and building new ones. The capital budget in Washoe County is roughly $20 million a year. But that just covers school operations, not expansion.
So having parent feedback moving forward is crucial to solving the problem.
Lisa Ruggerio, Trustee on the WCSD Board said, "I think that is going to be critical to making these tough decisions when it comes to overcrowding."
"The district staff have a very difficult job. Everyone wants to know, when are we going to build a new school, how are we going to build it. They can't create that money," said Hurlbert.
He's talking about how this could all lead to a ballot question for voters next November in the general election. The district needs funding, but the public has to vote on it.
Washoe County has a history of voting down tax increases for school capital improvement projects. There have been several failed attempts over the last decade.
"We had Senate Bill 154 in 2008 and 2009 that went to the legislature," he said. "It failed. We had Assembly Bill 46 go to the legislature, and then the county commission, failed both times."
There is a legislative committee exploring the ways to raise money. The most likely scenario is another ballot question in November 2016's general election.
The district says time is running out.
"If we do not address this,it will have a huge impact on economic development, have an impact on families in this community," said Etchart. "So this is something we have to address."
Etchart says they will have a better idea of what their plan of action will be once November 2016 comes. But for now, they are forced to wait, as schools get even more full. They are holding several parent meetings in the upcoming weeks at schools affected the most by overcrowding. Parents at these schools know about the meetings, and are urged to voice their concerns.
"We just really hope that the community hears our message and we go forward and find that sustainable source of funding to build new schools," said Etchart.
Their hope is to have a plan by October to present to parents and the district, so a final recommendation can be proposed in December.
This is a complicated story, with various angles. Stay with Channel 2 News for further updates on the overcrowding issue.
