LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The southwest valley is considered one of the fastest growing areas in Clark County and as a result, several high schools are overcrowded.
“We’re just what, one week in? And look how bad it is,” Jani Spadora said of the overcrowding at Desert Oasis High School. Her daughter is a junior at Desert Oasis.
The Clark County School District does have a plan to fix the overcrowding. It is building two new magnet schools, but one of them is still a year away from opening.
Spadora is a real estate agent in the southwest valley and she said she saw the writing on the wall.
“What’s happened now is that we have too many homes and not enough either businesses and not enough, of course, schools, or medical care, or anything like that,” Spadora said.
According to CCSD data, Desert Oasis has a capacity of 2,574 students but its enrollment is 3,187. That’s 613 students too many.
Sierra Vista High School is also located in that part of the valley. Its capacity is 2,521 students, but currently, 3,152 are enrolled, according to CCSD data. That means it’s 631 students over capacity.
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These numbers aren’t surprising to Spadora.
“It’s common sense. You don’t have to be a super educated smart person to figure out that, it’s too many people. Where are you going to put all these kids?” Spadora said.
The two magnet schools are expected to ease the overcrowding at both Desert Oasis and Sierra Vista high schools, according to CCSD.
South Career and Technical Academy will open in the summer of 2025 and is expected to provide relief to Desert Oasis. It will be located near Starr Avenue and Gilespie Street.
Innovation Academy High School is tentatively scheduled to open in August of 2028, and it will be located near Cactus Avenue and Buffalo Drive.
District officials say Innovation Academy’s curriculum will be forward-looking.
“We were really trying to research some options to prepare students for jobs that don’t yet exist, so this new school gives us the opportunity to do that with the Innovation Academy,” Gia Moore, CCSD Assistant Superintendent for College and Career Readiness and School Choice, said. She was speaking at the CCSD’s Bond Oversight Committee on June 20.
CCSD didn’t respond to a request for comment on the overcrowding at Desert Oasis and Sierra Vista high schools.
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