By Rocio Hernandez
When classes resume in August, White Pine County students will have to continue to make do with century-old elementary and middle school facilities that the district superintendent says will cost more to fix than replace.
At over 100 years old, David E. Norman Elementary School and White Pine Middle School in Ely are part of state history. But White Pine County School District Superintendent Adam Young said their age also makes them “inadequate and concerning.”
The elementary school, built in 1909, has poor indoor air quality and lacks a reliable heating and cooling system that can make it tough for students during extreme weather conditions. The middle school, built in 1913, has similar issues.
Both buildings have limited or noncompliant Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility. One of the biggest challenges the district faces with both facilities is the asbestos within the walls, floors, plumbing and ceiling. That means any upgrades to the facilities will require asbestos abatement, which can make any renovation project more expensive.
But historically, there’s been little to no dedicated state funding for school capital needs. Instead, school districts typically use public bonds to pay for new buildings or raise funds through their counties’ property tax.
White Pine County is already at its statutory property tax cap of $3.66 for every $100 of assessed value, limiting the district’s bonding capacity. Even so, with a population of about 9,000, Young said the county — located in eastern Nevada bordering Utah — doesn’t have a large enough tax base to raise the amount needed to pay for a new school building.
In 2021, the district worked with Sen. Pete Goicoechea (R-Eureka) on a bill, SB395, that would have allowed White Pine County voters to go beyond the tax cap in order to raise capital revenue that would partially finance a new school. But that bill died in the session.
During the 2023 legislative session, Young, alongside teachers, students and staff, trekked to Carson City to plead with lawmakers to support a bill, SB100, that would have appropriated $60 million to the district to replace those facilities and build a new K-8 school building for those grade levels. Encouraged by Nevada’s record budget surplus heading into the session, Young and other district officials were hopeful that their request would be more successful this time around.
White Pine wasn’t the only school district looking for financial support for a new school. Members of the Owyhee tribal community were asking for lawmakers to appropriate $64.5 million to build a new school to replace its existing K-12 school building that was built in the 1950s and is part of the Elko County School District.
The White Pine school bill died in a committee. But lawmakers did pass the Owyhee school bill, AB519, which appropriates $64.5 million for the new school, and provides a mechanism for other rural counties to help fund their school district’s capital projects by dedicating existing county funds to those efforts or by raising additional taxes.
The bill also creates a fund to help finance rural school districts’ capital project and seeded it with $50 million in state money — $25 million of which is dedicated for projects on tribal land.
