Douglas County board drops districtwide K–8 option, directs superintendent to present two consolidation scenarios at town hall

The Douglas County School District board voted unanimously to remove a districtwide K–8 consolidation option from consideration and instructed Superintendent Alvarado to present two narrower scenarios at a district town hall the following evening.

Superintendent Alvarado opened the consolidation presentation by framing the district s "in financial distress," saying the scenarios were driven by declining enrollment and the need to reduce deficit spending. He laid out two principal approaches under consideration: returning sixth grade to elementary schools and consolidating the two middle schools into a single 7 nd 8 campus, or a longer-term phased K— model. Alvarado also presented estimated savings tied to different scenarios and cautioned that some savings would not be realized until later years.

Trustee Mona Knighting moved that the board "remove the consideration of K through 8 and the consolidation of our North Elementary Schools and that Mr. Alvarado takes to the Town Hall tomorrow the merging of the 2 Rancho Elementary Schools and the merging of the 2 middle schools." The motion passed unanimously.

Board members said they wanted to limit the number of options before the town hall so the community could debate a narrower set of proposals. Trustee Marcus Zinkie urged the board to choose the least-disruptive path that still met the roughly $1 million near-term savings target the district identified; Superintendent Alvarado told trustees the district was aiming for approximately $1,000,000 in savings from consolidation-related actions.

Public comment that evening was extensive and sharply split. Parents, teachers and students repeatedly warned that a K— model could reduce elective offerings and CTE (career and technical education) opportunities, expose younger children to mature adolescent behaviors, and strain elementary campuses that lack middle-school facilities. "I am strongly opposed to any consolidation that would involve K through 8 schools in the Valley," said Mark Porter, a music teacher who told the board consolidations could "have disastrous effects on our extracurricular programs, including visual arts, music, CTE, and foreign languages." Other speakers urged the district to instead consolidate elementary schools first, or to merge the two middle schools and keep sixth grade at the middle-school level to preserve electives and band programs.

Superintendent Alvarado told trustees the next step is public engagement: he will present the selected scenarios at a town hall set for 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. the next evening and collect community input before the board acts further. The board noted that any formal step to close or consolidate a campus will trigger statutory notice requirements; legal counsel cited NRS 393.08(2), which requires 30 days' written notice to affected principals, teachers and parents and publication of meeting notice at least 10 days before a meeting on closure or consolidation.

The board ended the meeting by approving the motion to narrow options and sending the two scenarios to the town hall, with trustees voting "aye" and the motion passing unanimously. The superintendent said further operational details (which grades will sit where, course offerings, transportation planning) will be worked out by district staff if the board advances any consolidation plan.

Next steps: the superintendent will present the two scenarios at the town hall, solicit community feedback and return to the board with refined options and any required statutory notices before a formal decision.