District spends $780K planning new schools, addition

The Washoe County School District is spending $700,000 on designs for a 22-classroom addition to Damonte Ranch High School, which it can’t afford to build.

“We’re not wasting money hoping things happen,” said School Board President Angie Taylor on Tuesday when the board approved the contract with GML Architects to draft the designs.

The school board unanimously approved the expense at the recommendation of its Capital Funding Protection Committee.

Taylor emphasized that the school is out of space and an addition will be built when the district finds the money. Construction cost are estimated at $25 million, according to district records.

“We do want to be prepared,” said Pete Etchart, chief operations officer for the district.

Addition planned for Verdi school, at no cost

The campus in south Reno was constructed to accommodate 1,400 students but exceeded that limit by nearly 350 students last year, relying on eight portable classrooms. It’s the most crowded high school out of 12 campuses in the county-wide district, exceeding its capacity by 25 percent.

A 22-classroom addition would add 36,200 square feet, which is about the size of a grocery store.

District officials said construction could start soon, potentially January or February, if it receives the $25 million needed to break ground.

“This is so important to the students. They’re crammed in there,” said board member Lisa Ruggerio. “I really hope to see this happen.”

District officials never mentioned the request for a countywide tax increase on November’s ballot, but it's the obvious funding source they’re counting on to start construction.

Washoe voters to say yes or no on sales tax hike for schools

In the November General Election, Washoe voters will decide the fate of a ballot measure requesting the sales tax be increased from 7.725 percent to 8.265 percent countywide. If approved, the permanently increased tax rate would mark a record high for any Nevada county.

Clark County currently charges the most in sales tax at 8.15 percent.

All revenue from the tax increase would go to the Washoe County School District to renovate existing schools and build new campuses. The district would bond against tax revenue, producing about $781 million over the next decade.

The tax increase needs support from a majority of Washoe voters on Nov. 8 to be implemented. Proponents of the tax increase agree it will be a tough sell to voters.

If the ballot question fails, the board could piece together funds from its capital program to build a Damonte addition, as was similarly done with additions to North Valleys and Spanish Springs high schools.

But the district is planning for the ballot question's passage. They’re not only spending $700,000 on designs for Damonte Ranch’s addition, which would allow them to start building in January. The school board is also spending $80,000 on master plans for potential sites of new elementary, middle and high schools.

8 Washoe schools near new trigger for double sessions

Elementary schools top the list of most crowded campuses in Washoe.

Of the district’s 96 schools, Brown Elementary school is the most crowded at 45 percent over capacity. Double Diamond Elementary School is 29 percent over capacity and Mount Rose Elementary School is 25 percent over capacity.

To deal with overcrowding, the school board also set aside $1 million this week for alterations at schools facing overcrowding. Possible uses of the money include the following:

• Convert storage rooms, school stores and unused boiler rooms into classrooms.
• Install walls separating one large classroom into two rooms.
• Add portable classrooms to campuses.
• Convert music rooms into standard classrooms, forcing music teachers to work in multipurpose rooms.