Gerlach needs makeover
Forty-three students attend Gerlach High School, which is part of the Washoe County School District even though Gerlach is 100 miles from Reno.
The Washoe County School District community and business leaders voted to seek an increase in vehicle registration fees and sales tax to sell $393 million in bonds for school repairs and new technology. We look at some of the older campuses and their needs.
Gerlach High School has the smallest enrollment of any high school in the Washoe County School District. It has a total of 24 students attending the school 100 miles north of Reno.
“We’re the furthest people away from the superintendent’s office, I guess would be the way to say it,” Principal Carol Kaufmann said.
The school’s ethnic breakdown is as follows: 24.6 percent Hispanic, 67.4 white and 8 percent American Indian.
About
- Name: Gerlach High School
- Address: 555 E. Sunset Blvd., Gerlach
- Phone: 775-557-2326
- Year built: Established in 1931; burned down in 1954 and rebuilt in 1955.
- Enrollment: 43
- Capacity: 275
- Mascot: Lions
- Colors: Royal blue and old gold
- Fun fact: There are three schools within Gerlach’s campus that Kaufmann oversees: Gerlach High School, Gerlach Middle School and Johnson Elementary School. Among all the schools, there is a total of 88 students.
Although Gerlach High School is more than 50 years old, Johnson Elementary School recently was built.
“This type of facility is interesting because it’s like a growing child,” Kaufmann said.
Students at all the schools participate in a community garden project. For the past two years, the school has grown their own vegetables in an external garden to share with the community.
Hot topic
Kaufmann said because the school is more than 100 miles from Reno and about 80 miles from the nearest hardware store. It takes longer to repair problems like plumbing at the school.
Renovations needed
A new roof is a priority upgrade, Kaufmann said.
The current roof has suffered enough water damage that could begin to cause leaks, Kaufmann said.
New lockers and classroom furniture also are on Kaufmann’s list for needed improvements. The current lockers and some of the desks were are used from other schools. Teachers also have desks that do not lock.
“For teachers, in all honesty, to be treated like professionals, they need to have a place to lock their things,” Kaufmann said.
One of the science rooms also needs a fume hood and an emergency eye-wash station. Kaufmann said she is hesitant to have students preform experiments without an eye-wash station.
Technology
The middle school and high school share one computer lab that holds about 20 computers. Kaufmann said she would like computer access in all classrooms.
“That’s how the world’s going,” she said, “and we have to keep up with the world.”
This article originally appeared in Reno Gazette-Journal.
