Members for master plan committee sought

A committee is being organized to help the Carson City School District determine its priorities for the next five years, including a possible bond issue.

"Over the years we've realized how important it is to keep the parents and taxpayers of the community involved in the school district and what the goals are," said Mike Mitchell, former operations director for the school district who has been hired as a consultant to oversee the process. "It doesn't work for us to make these decisions behind closed doors. It's better if we can let the public be a part of that process."

One of the primary duties of the committee will be to determine whether the school district should seek a bond in the 2010 election.

"We'll provide an assessment of the district's facilities to this committee," Mitchell said. "They'll look at the needs of these facilities and decide the priorities of these needs. They'll also look at how our facilities are at accommodating the educational needs of the district."

He said educational needs may have changed since the last master plan was put into place.

"Also the needs of industry are different than they were 10 years ago," he said.

One of the proposals that has been suggested is expanding vocational education.

Mitchell said all options will be explored.

He said it used to be that vocational education was limited to trades like electricians and carpentry. It has expanded now to include careers such as culinary arts and Web design.

He said that's why it's important to have community support.

"Often, it's the business people who know what they need," Mitchell said. "They need to articulate that to the school district so when the kids graduate, they have a place to go."

The committee will meet twice a month at noon on the first and third Tuesdays. The first meeting will be this Tuesday. Anyone interested in being on the committee should call Superintendent Richard Stokes at 283-2100.