A conveyance process that previously was moving along quickly has stalled a bit, according to school district officials.
According to Humboldt County School District Superintendent Dr. Dave Jensen, the conveyance for acreage in Orovada from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to HCSD for a new school has lost a little traction.
At the HCSD Board of Trustees regular meeting on June 27 (with Trustee Ron Moser absent), Dr. Jensen told the Board that the proper environmental permitting (the Notice of Issuance of Surface Area Disturbance Permit) from the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection that will allow work to begin on the new school has been received, but they are still waiting on the BLM for the conveyance.
“We continue to hear that [the property] will be released [from the BLM] any day now,” said Jensen.
Lithium Nevada will be funding the construction of the new school, expected to be completed by 2024, but the 40 acre site for the school, chosen by the Orovada community, lies on BLM- owned land and has to go through the proper convenience procedures in order for construction to begin.
In correspondence with Lithium Nevada, Jensen offered to visit the BLM’s office in Washington, DC in order to inquire about the conveyance while he is there for a separate matter in early July and said he would continue to keep the Board updated on the matter.
In other HCSD news:
Nine vacancies remain in the district for the upcoming school year, five of which are at the McDermitt Combined School. The HCSD has made big progress with the number of vacancies previously being 16.
According to Dr. Jensen, the vacancies in McDermitt remain a big challenge for the HCSD and he and the Board have been evaluating ways to fill the vacancies and alternatives if the positions cannot be filled by the beginning of the school year.
Jensen also said that there is the potential for a sixth vacancy to be open in McDermitt, but the Board will be discussing the McDermitt vacancies and ways to fill them more in depth at their regular meeting on July 25.
Matters such as virtual courses and busing students to other schools in the district were briefly mentioned but Jensen and the Board agreed that the priority is to get teachers in front of the students.
Trustee Sabrina Uhlmann expressed concern regarding chronic absenteeism amongst students if the HCSD cannot find solutions to the lack of teachers in McDermitt.
“We’ve got some work to do,” said Jensen.
Other positions in the district are also being filled by teachers that have come out of retirement to address the needs of students in Humboldt County as well as by aids on special assignment, long-term substitute teachers, and other non-certified persons that are on alternative routes to getting licensure, but this is one of the smallest pools of long-term subs on special assignment that the district has seen in the past few years, according to Jensen.
HCSD Board Clerk Nicole Bengochea said that she and the Board truly appreciate those retired teachers that saw the needs of students in Humboldt County and stepped up to teach, despite earning their retirement.
The current vacancies for the HCSD as of June 27 include:
• Positions in English, Special Ed., Science, Kindergarten, and social work at the McDermitt Combined School.
• A sixth grade teaching position at French Form Middle School.
• A Special Education position at Lowry High School.
• A fourth grade teaching position at the Winnemucca Grammar School.
• A music teaching position at the Winnemucca Grammar School.