Repairs Underway at Pine Middle School

Most Washoe County students are going back to class after a long holiday break. But not students from Pine Middle School. A pipe broke the day after Christmas, forcing emergency repairs on walls and floors. The situation has been made more complicated with asbestos and an aging building.

This district provided us with several pictures of repairs at Pine Middle School. It doesn’t even look like a school with walls torn, tarps hanging from the ceiling, and tiles removed from the floor.

While the cause hasn't been determined, a water line break above the cafeteria has forced crews to remove floors and portions of walls which contain asbestos. It would have eventually had to have been done as the floors continued to wear here, but this school wasn't even on the top ten for improvements, until the water line break.

Signs let parents know the school was closed and directed them to phone numbers for additional information.

No doubt many families are left scrambling, making arrangements for their middle school child to be anywhere but at Pine.

But Cobb says this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the district's aging school facilities. An immediate problem pushed an older school to the top of the list for repairs--inconveniencing families and faculty alike.

“We are working hard trying to be pro-active on certain things. A lot of times based upon the shear amount of orders you get on the maintenance side, it is a reactive process,” says Cobb

The last of school bond money from 2002 will be spent in part on five elementary schools including Pleasant Valley Elementary. There, some tiles on the floor of the multi-purpose room are 50 years old.

The entire floor will be removed and replaced along with the flooring in classrooms. Fixtures in the classroom will also see improvements, and this ceiling covering colored by the ventilation system will be going as well.

Besides those improvement, the five elementary schools will be updated with Wi-Fi. Safety and security updates will be implemented there and other schools as well.

All for a total of $73,000,000, which includes three years’ worth of general replacement systems throughout the district and Signature Academy updates.