The city of Henderson, Nev., and the Clark County School District are at odds over the size of a proposed new school in the city.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the district wants to build an elementary school for about 850 elementary students. The school would abut and replace part of Reunion Trails Park.
The city, however, is asking the district to consider building a campus that would accommodate about 700 students.
“We are asking CCSD to work with the city and the community to design a school that fits the neighborhood and that addresses the concerns of residents, including traffic issues,” city spokesman David Cherry says. “One of the solutions being discussed is reducing the number of students that would attend the school so it can be built to a smaller size that is more in keeping with the location.”
The district submitted an application and traffic study to the Henderson Planning Commission, and the commission returned it with requests for changes. The district plans to resubmit the plan in about six weeks but insists that the bigger school is necessary.
“CCSD’s main objective with any new school coming online is to relieve the overcrowding of neighboring school sites,” the district says in a statement. “Discussions are currently ongoing on how best to respect the wishes of the community while relieving overcrowding in the neighborhood schools.”
Meanwhile, parents at Twitchell, Vanderburg, Kesterson and Newton elementaries feel as though they’re being left in the lurch. Their schools are crowded but functioning, parents say; they worry that continuing to operate over capacity will have long-term negative effects.
“I definitely don’t like to see our blacktop and our playground littered by portables just to compensate for the new people and the growth,” says Misty Lucina, a parent of a Vanderburg third-grader. “It’s not trying to pit one group next to another. It’s frustrating, I’m sure, from everybody’s point of view.”
