School board approves Capital Improvement Plan for 2023-28

The Carson City School Board has approved its revised Capital Improvement Plan for fiscal years 2023-28, reflecting several key projects and improvements expected to take place at district sites and recommendations from the Facilities Master Plan Committee.

The CIP, which must indicate five years’ worth of development, lists projects under consideration by CCSD’s Facilities Master Plan and Bond Oversight committees as well as its Pay-As-You-Go amounts, or tax levies the district transfers to its capital project funds when it has excess amounts beyond what is required in its debt service account for each fiscal year.

Chief Fiscal Officer Spencer Winward reported updates for fiscal years 2025 through 2028 were based on projections that had been lowered according to bond consultant Marty Johnson of JNA Consulting Group in case the district goes out to bond during fiscal year 2024. Carson City also has about $3.4 million available for 2024 in case funds need to be transferred out, and this amount is common for a district of its size, but Winward added its debt service fund is healthy at this point. Changes will be brought back for the board to approve if staff learns there are deficiencies in facilities or buildings to reprioritize projects, he said.

Trustee Molly Walt returned to concerns about maintaining Carson High School’s field shared by the soccer and football teams. At the May 9 trustees meeting Walt said Carson High’s practice field showed unsafe divots around sprinkler heads and scheduling became competitive between teams, to which Trustee Mike Walker had suggested more community coordination might resolve the issue.

During Tuesday’s board meeting, Walt said the field never had been on the district’s master plan, and Mark Johnson, responsible for capital and bond projects, said he had recently added it to the document.

“Nobody wants a field that isn’t operational for these kids,” Walker said in response to Walt’s request May 26. “(Field improvements) are astonishingly expensive. … Our reality fiscally for years and years has been we don’t have a lot of money, so you’re picking and choosing. So hopefully the Legislature truly will start investing better in our campuses and giving money for capital improvement so that safety and these concerns can be addressed adequately.”

The trustees approved the revised CIP and the Opening Balance Fund 300 Capital Projects for FY2023-28 in a 7-0 vote.