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"School Works" for Washoe County School District
$92 Million of Voter-Approved Funding to be Invested in Local Schools
Reno, Nev., (August 24, 2011) - The final hours of the 2011 Legislative session saw passage of AB-376, a jobs bill that freed up additional bonding capacity for the Washoe County School District. As a result, the Capital Projects division of the WCSD is announcing a $92 million Rollover Bond funded School Works program, which will be used to revitalize older schools, upgrade learning environments and make schools safer.
"This is a $92 million investment in our kids, our community and our future," said Mark Stanton, Chief Capital Projects Officer. "We're honoring our commitment through the 2002 Rollover Bond by making the most effective use of this voter investment, creating the best, most secure learning environments possible and also creating jobs."
School Works is an estimated two-year program encompassing 337 projects, which will impact 95 percent of students in the Washoe County School District. The plan allocates funding toward revitalization and renewal projects that include safety/security, ADA and technology upgrades. All but seven schools in the WCSD (92 percent) will see upgrades - and of those seven schools, all have been recently revitalized.
"Given that we are a district primarily comprised of older schools, these upgrades and improvements are vitally important," Stanton said. "More than one quarter of all district school sites are more than 50 years old, and almost 60 percent are more than three decades old."
The largest chunk of funding from School Works - $30 million worth - will be devoted to school revitalizations at nine elementary schools: Beck, Drake, Greenbrae, Mitchell, Peavine, Sierra Vista, Kate Smith, Sun Valley and Warner. These schools will see their classroom learning environments completely refurbished with new furniture, paint, cubbies, flooring and tackable wall surfaces; improved technology including interactive white boards; and enhanced safety and security features like energy-efficient windows with internal blinds, new locks, perimeter fencing and single point of entry.
"Mitchell Elementary School alone is 74 years old," Stanton said, noting the average age of the nine revitalized schools is just over 56 years old. "Our students and teachers are going to feel safer and more comfortable in their surroundings. Research suggests thermal, acoustical and visual comfort are essential components of improved student performance."
The Board of Trustees unanimously voted last week to approve the program plan. Trustee Ken Grein sees the program not only helping local students and teachers, but also helping inspire job creation in a steeply downturned economy. "I'm thrilled that we're able to do this," Grein said. "It's such a great thing - not only for our students and schools, but also for our community."
Through the jobs bill, the District was asked to identify projects that could be started quickly to help stimulate the local economy. Based on a federal standard, School Works is expected to create almost 1,000 construction jobs.
"This is a good, solid plan," said Mike Cate, owner of Pavers Plus. Cate says his experience as a business owner and a community member concerned about the local economy inspired him to work with Assemblywoman Debbie Smith and a team on the drafting and passage of AB-376. "School Works is designed to spread projects among all different sizes of contractors and subcontractors and touches a lot of kids, which is the most important thing."
Assemblywoman Smith says she sponsored the legislation in order to improve local schools and put Nevadans back to work.
"This is a great example of legislative action that is providing real, tangible results to improve our schools and to help put Nevadans back to work," Smith said. "This legislation, coupled with the jobs bill we passed to encourage the hiring of Nevada workers, will help us meet both of those goals."
Stanton underscores that funding for this work comes from a capital projects account, which is money exclusively raised from voter-approved bond measures. It cannot be used to pay teacher salaries or offset general fund shortfalls.
"Our students are excited, our teachers are thrilled with the upgrades to their learning environment and the local economy is about to get a nice shot in the arm," Stanton said. "School Works will work for our community for many years to come."
To view details about upcoming projects and to see how 2002 Rollover Bond allocations are being used to improve Washoe County schools, visit www.wcsdfacilities.com.
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About Washoe County School District: The Washoe County School District includes the Reno/Sparks metropolitan area, Incline Village, Gerlach, Empire and Wadsworth, Nevada. The District provides each of its 63,000 students with a superior education in a safe and challenging environment and is committed to graduate every child career and college ready. For more information visit www.washoecountyschools.org. Follow us on Twitter at WCSDTweet.
Sidebar
The $92 million School Works Program is projected to include (details in chart below):
- Elementary school revitalizations
- Middle school and high school revitalizations (window replacements)
- Capital renewal (HVAC, roof, flooring and fire alarm replacements)
- Safety and security upgrades
- ADA upgrades
- Internet connectivity improvements
Washoe County School District
425 East Ninth Street
Reno, NV 89520
