A look back at CCSD’s K-8 plan

Had the Clark County School District gone through with its plan, a new K-8 campus would have been welcoming students this week.

The plan called for the closure of Garrett Middle School and Martha P. King Elementary, as well as Andrew J. Mitchell Elementary, with the new campus being built adjacent to Garrett.

But pushback from the community had the district thinking otherwise and the topic was tabled.

During an Oct. 28, 2021 CCSD special meeting of its bond oversight committee, the topic was discussed. The proposal was part of CCSD’s 2015 Capital Improvement Plan and its fifth revision was presented at that meeting. The bond oversight committee is an independent group that manages the district’s capital improvement program in order to provide transparency to the public. Its members are appointed by the trustees.

Committee member Yvette Williams asked, “I’m wondering if we want to wait on making a decision about a new K-8 in Boulder City. On the motions and taskings there has been a request for a presentation on the Economic Benefits of Building K-8 Program Schools that has not been presented to us.”

To that, former CCSD chief of facilities Jeff Wagner said, “My recommendation is to table it until we have had a chance to meet with the community for their input.”

Wagner said during the community input meetings about the CIP, community members said they were worried about combining Mitchell, King and Garrett into one kindergarten through eighth-grade campus for a variety of reasons.

“They expressed concern about having that many students on one campus,” he said. “They expressed concern about losing some administrators through this process. That came through loud and clear in our public input meetings, so I committed to pause on this and work with the community over the next year to bring back a better solution for the community.”

To date, the issue hasn’t come up.

“I remember that the reason they put the plan for the K-8 on hold or tabled it, was that the community who they spoke to did not want their young children with middle-school students,” Garrett Principal Melanie Teemant said this week. “It was also about the model we have in Boulder City is unique (four schools) and the community liked the design. There were about 40-50 people or so at the two meetings I attended, and there were some that voiced that they felt it would work and were not opposed to it. However, most were parents from Mitchell who were against it and were in attendance. I believe that there were four (CCSD) meetings regarding schools that were being built or rebuilt and anyone in attendance could have been there for any of those schools. Most were in attendance for the new K-8 building for Boulder City.”

Two of the reasons CCSD was considering a K-8 was because of Boulder City’s enrollment numbers and the age of the schools. In 2021, Mitchell’s enrollment was 337 students with a capacity of 439 or 76% filled. King saw 343 students that year but the school’s capacity was 589 or 58% filled. Garrett was at just 50% capacity with 354 students out of a maximum 696.

Mitchell was built in 1970, Garrett in 1978 and King in 1991.

In a question posted by the Review on its Facebook page, respondents were asked about their feelings at the time of the possibility of a K-8 campus. Most said they were opposed, primarily with the idea of having kindergarteners and eighth graders on the same campus. Others said not enough information was provided, while some said the concept would have meant state-of-the-art classrooms and equipment for the students and shared their positive experiences of either attending or teaching at K-8 schools.