Summerlin school feels growing pains

When John W. Bonner Elementary School opened two years ago in Summerlin about 250 children were enrolled at the facility that was built to handle 750-800 students.

Soon, however, the neighborhoods around the school at 765 Crestdale Ave., off Town Center Drive and near Anasazi Drive, started to boom with growth -- so much so that Monday's enrollment was 978. That was 300 more students than had registered by the end of June.

"It was a chaotic first day there," Clark County School District spokeswoman Lori Harris said. "Overall, things went fairly smooth elsewhere."

Bonner students reported not only to assigned classrooms but also to a specifically designed overflow area that doubles as a computer room and the multipurpose room. Classes were held in those makeshift areas today as well.

"Portable classrooms had arrived (over the weekend) but had not yet been prepared," Harris said. "They will be ready tomorrow. And the school has enough teachers."

Harris said she does not believe that the district is violating the state law which mandates a maximum number of students per teacher per grade at that school. For example, under state law, third grade classes can have no more than 21 students per teacher.

"There had been an influx of home sales in that area," Harris said. "One-quarter of the children who showed up for classes Monday were kindergarten students."

Harris said Bonner students would not be rezoned at this late a date. Besides, there are no other elementary schools in the immediate area.

Bonner is the western-most elementary school in the valley. Neighboring elementary schools, William R. Lummis, at 9000 Hillpointe Road, and Clarence A. Piggott, at 9601 Red Hills Road, are its closest grammar school neighbors. However, both of them are full and are too far away, Harris said.

The only other incidents on the opening day at the valley's 236 public schools were the arrest of a Desert Pines High School student at the new school at 3800 Harris Ave., and several buses running late.

Metro Police officers saw a car that had been reported stolen elsewhere at the high school and waited for the driver to come out. The driver was arrested at the scene on car theft charges, a Metro Police spokesman said, confirming only that the driver was a juvenile.

Clark County School District Police confirmed today that the driver is a junior at the school. No other information was immediately available.

School transportation officials did not have numbers immediately available on how many buses were late Monday. Harris said it was not unusual for buses to be late the first day, given that there are a number of new drivers, thousands of students new to the district and new routes.

Of the estimated 216,000-plus students who attended the first day of school, an estimated 86,000 were transported by about 880 yellow school buses. The district provides busing only for students who live 2 miles or more from the school where they are assigned.

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