Fence funding goes back to school board

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Siobhan McAndrew, RGJ

 

Of the 27 schools where the Washoe County School District approved spending $1 million for new fencing, at least one school already had the project completed and others have a majority of playground areas already fenced.

 

The school district confirmed the errors after the Reno Gazette-Journal visited and called some of the 27 schools about perimeter fencing after last week’s school board meeting.

 

School Board trustees received a memo on Friday stating that new information about the fencing and a new request for approval would be brought in front of the board again on June 10. The school district did not respond to requests from the RGJ for a copy of the memo.

 

Pete Etchart, the chief operations officer for the district, said he met with the capital projects team on Monday and there will now be visits made to each school before next week’s meeting.

 

Etchart said the list of 27 schools presented before board last month had old information, including that Lena Juniper Elementary School in Sparks would need $49,675 to put a secure perimeter around the school. Juniper said its fencing project was completed last year.

 

Etchart said some of the schools have not been visited since 2011. He said in some cases schools may have put in additional fencing using individual school budget funds, fundraising or donations.

 

“It is embarrassing that we made this mistake,” Board President Barbara Clark said. “We need to look at this when any capital items come up and see if a survey was done in recent months and if the numbers we are given are accurate.”

 

She did add that at some schools on the list, fencing has gaps and may not be to the safety standards recommended by school police. She also said the district is paying extra attention to fencing needs near kindergarten classrooms.

 

At last week’s board meeting, trustees said they did not want the fences to create a prison-like atmosphere. They said the $977,479 project would keep children safe who may try to run off school playgrounds.

 

“It is to keep the little ones from running off and getting hurt. It isn’t a perimeter that we are going to electrify to keep people out,” Trustee Howard Rosenberg said.

 

The school district said it will now discuss if trustees want to replace fencing that is 4 to 5 feet tall in some spots. The fencing project trustees approved was to install 6 foot fences.

 

This may save the district money including at Sarah Winnemucca Elementary School, which was budgeted to cost the district more than $112,000 under this project. Much of the school fencing around its playground areas is currently 5-feet tall.

 

Project costs

Washoe County School Board of Trustees on May 27 approved spending $977,479 to put secure fence perimeters at 27 elementary schools. Here are the project costs by school:

 

Beasley: $3,353

 

Brown: $41,355

 

Caughlin Ranch: $24,838

 

Diedrichsen: $49,675

 

Dodson: $49,675

 

Donner Springs: $25,000

 

Double Diamond: $24,838

 

Dunn: $49,675

 

Hall: $24,838

 

Hidden Valley: $24,838

 

Huffaker: $24,838

 

Hunsberger: $24,838

 

Incline: $49,675

 

Juniper: $49,675

 

Lenz: $49,675

 

Melton: $24,838

 

Moss: $24,838

 

Natchez: $50,000

 

Sepulveda: $24,838

 

Alice Smith: $24,838

 

Spanish Springs: $24,838

 

Taylor: $24,838

 

Towles: $49,675

 

Van Gorder: $24,838

 

Westergard: $49,675

 

Whitehead: $24,838

 

Winnemucca: $112,639