School district officials ponder ways to accommodate growth

With schools already 20 percent over capacity and more students expected in the future, Carson City School District officials are pondering where to educate them.

"The school district is kind of in a dilemma," said Mike Mitchell, director of operations. "We want to respect the community's desire to grow and be vibrant. In order to do that, we have to have this ability to ebb and flow. But how do we plan for that?"

A proposed 300-unit apartment in the Empire area would add from 150 to 400 new students, and other developments also may be on the way.

Officials also have to predict the birth rate and how many of those babies will grow up and attend school in Carson City.

"We have to figure out who's going to have babies when and where," Mitchell said.

The school district's master plan, last updated in 1998, calls for schools to add portable buildings to accommodate growth. As schools continue to grow, the plan dictates they should switch to multi-tracking, in which schedules are staggered to allow different groups of students to use buildings at different times.

Now, 470 elementary students -- 12 percent of the total population -- are educated in portable classrooms.

At the middle school level, 32 percent of the students are educated in modular buildings.

A new committee has been formed and is working to update the plan. Mitchell said the three major options to accommodate growth include continuing to purchase more portable classrooms, switch to multi-track scheduling or build new schools.

Each option has its benefits and downfalls. And none is cheap.

Portable Classrooms

Although a logistical nightmare to operate and maintain, students and teachers have few complaints about holding classes in portable buildings.

Like nearly half of her peers at Carson Middle School, Jamie Snoddy attends some of her classes in the maze of portable buildings set up behind the main school.

"It's just more fun to go out there because you get to go outside," she said. "And it's easier to get to the classroom because there's not as many people."

And for teachers who have had to compete for space in buildings that never seem to have enough, the trailers can offer a welcome respite.

Speech therapist Mary Jane Hillenbrand used to teach her students in the school's conference room and had to leave when other events were scheduled there.

"For me, it's being able to have my own room and work in my own room and not be displaced at the end of the day," she said.

But the walls are thin, creating noise distractions, and she said the portable rooms shouldn't be the permanent solution.

"If it's going to be an established school, I really feel like there should be an actual building," she said.

Mitchell said he would also prefer a permanent solution if growth were also permanent.

But it's hard to tell if student populations will drop off in the future.

Permanent buildings are more expensive to build, ranging from $7 million for an elementary school to $50 million for a high school.

Portable buildings cost $100,000 each, but are more expensive over the long run.

"They're more expensive to operate and they're more expensive to maintain," Mitchell said. "They're not as efficient."

They also put a strain on a school's infrastructure.

Adding classrooms to a school can crowd bathrooms, cafeterias and support services such as computer labs and libraries.

Multi-track schedules

Kelly Wurster's two children attend Pi-on Hills Elementary School in Gardnerville on a multi-track schedule.

As a stay-at-home mom, Wurster said, she has been able to adjust her schedule to her children's school schedule but noted it has it's drawbacks.

"I think it's a bummer for them to go to school during the summer," she said. "It's still warm and they want to go outside and play."

Carson City officials are considering switching some schools to a similar year-round schedule where four groups of students attend school in one building.

At any given time, three groups are in session, while one is on break.

It would cost roughly $250,000 in increased administrative and other costs to transform a school with a traditional calendar to a multi-track schedule.

Mitchell said the great benefit to the multi-track option is that if student enrollment drops, it is easy to switch back.

The greatest downfall is inconvenience to parents, especially those who may have more than one child. One child could attend a multi-track elementary school and another a middle school with a traditional calendar.

"It would be impossible to plan vacations," Mitchell said.

New Schools

Mitchell said the best solution would be additional schools, but only if student populations could support them over the next 50 years.

"If it's just a surge of students that decreases over the years, it is much easier to get rid of portables than entire buildings," he said. "But Carson City isn't a boom and bust town."

New buildings would require voters to pass bond issues. The school district has asked for two bonds in as many years. Voters passed them both.

Breakout:

Option Cost

Portable classrooms $100,000 each

Multi-track $250,000 per school

New schools $7 million to $50 million