School district to realign for first time since '98

Middle schools most affected

By Andrew Pridgen

Appeal Staff Writer

Though district enrollment numbers continue to dwindle, Carson Middle School will have an influx of new students over the next three years as newly drawn district lines work to "balance out" student body sizes at the middle school level, district officials said this week.

The middle school districts will be realigned in time for the beginning of next year in accordance with the ribbon-cutting on Carson Middle School's new facility, built using a portion of a recent school bond.

The $25 million 2006 school bond measure was primarily to build the facility, said Mike Mitchell, Carson City School District director of operations.

"We got together and created a master plan committee made up of school district employees as well as members of the community," he said. "Everyone involved helped the school district look at the future."

Though enrollment projections were down even at the time of the bond's passage, the issue at hand was getting rid of 13 portable classrooms. One proponent of the measure referred to the portables as "glorified mobile homes."

"We needed to (build) 20,000 square feet, or at least enough to house about 600 students," Mitchell said. "We're building the addition and getting rid of the portables. Since we're not increasing enrollment at Carson Middle, we're able to shift kids from Eagle Valley over - which is good, because Eagle Valley is overcrowded."

Mitchell said Eagle Valley Middle School's enrollment, which is now about 850, will be down to its original capacity of 750 within three years due to the re-drawing of the district's boundaries in the following neighborhoods:

• On the northeast part a boundary bordered by East Nye Lane, Highway 50 and Airport Road. "That area's currently zoned Eagle Valley, but bordered by Carson Middle," Mitchell said.

• Near Seeliger School an area bordered by Colorado Street and Clearview Drive. "It's a little strip in there that runs east to west," Mitchell said. "It will now be Carson Middle."

• Bordered by Highway 395 and Silver Sage Drive. "There's a small strip in there as well," he said.

This is the district's first major realignment since 1998, officials said.

Mitchell said the biggest concern of district officials is to make sure "nobody's feeling forced to be re-zoned."

"If someone is already going to Eagle Valley, we're going to let them finish out there," he said. "We'll let families stay together too."

But when the new year rolls around on Aug. 28 and the portables are gone from Carson Middle School campus to make way for a new multi-million-dollar building, Mitchell said he thinks parents and students alike will laud the realignment.

"We kind of got a double-dip here," he said. "We're getting a new building, and solving enrollment issues at both schools. We're looking forward to it."

If you Go

Parents with questions about Carson City School District's realignment are encouraged to attend the following upcoming meetings at 6 p.m. in the school's libraries:

March 31 - Eagle Valley Middle School

April 1 - Seeliger Elementary

April 3 - Carson Middle School

April 7 - Fremont Elementary

• Contact reporter Andrew Pridgen at apridgen@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.