Eleven more schools transitioning to year-round schedules

By Ian Whitaker

Published Friday, March 6, 2015 | 11:33 a.m.

Updated Friday, March 6, 2015 | 5:12 p.m.

Eleven elementary schools will transition to year-round schedules next year to ease crowding, the Clark County School District announced today.

The schools are Beckley, Cortez, Diaz, Herr, Schorr, Tanaka, Thorpe, Treem, Twitchell, Vanderburg and Wallin.

With the additions, 24 elementary schools will be on the year-round schedule. In Clark County's year-round schools, students are split into five groups called "tracks." At any given time, at least one track is on break while the others are in class.

“Converting schools to a year-round calendar is not a decision that is made lightly, but it serves as a solution to our overcrowded schools, which pose potential safety issues and create congestion in the classrooms,” Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky said in a statement.​

Twitchell Elementary in Henderson has 1,016 students, 200 more than it was designed to accommodate.

Principal Michele Wooldridge said enrollment is projected to climb to 1,119 next year with the opening of several apartment complexes in the area.

To avoid overcrowding while staying on a nine-month schedule, the school would need five additional classrooms, she said.

On average, the school is about five students over state-mandated class sizes for the fourth and fifth grades.

Wooldridge said converting to year-round schedule would allow the school to free up classroom space and reduce class sizes by about five students. “We’d be able to have more classrooms and more teachers available,” she said.

Wooldridge said she understands not all parents will like the new schedule. “We realize it’s going to be an adjustment,” she said.

Skorkowsy decided which schools would make the transition, based on the number of seats at each school, projected student population, the design of the school and overall county growth.

There are currently more than 60 schools on the district’s year-round watch list, which means they are in growing neighborhoods and on the brink of becoming overcrowded.

“If the growth projections keep up, I definitely think we’re going to have to convert more to year-round,” said chief district student achievement officer Mike Barton.

It costs about $300,000 more each year to operate a year-round school and puts more wear and tear on the buildings.

The 11 new year-round schools will cost the district about $3 million annually, but that’s still far below the cost of building a new school.