Damaged Mount Charleston school to stay closed; library a possible solution

The Clark County School Board voted against repairing Mount Charleston’s storm-damaged elementary school in a work session meeting Wednesday, but voted to explore using the local library as a potential school facility for the community’s elementary students.

In a 4-3 vote, the board opted to not fix Lundy Elementary School, which has been closed since the remnants of Tropical Storm Hilary ravaged the mountain community in August 2023.

A decision on whether to tear the school down or not will be made in the future.

The board also voted Wednesday to explore using the Mount Charleston library as a local school facility for the small number of students — 10 in the 2023-2024 school year — who would’ve been attending Lundy.

Last school year, students who would have attended Lundy were instead bused over an hour each way to Indian Springs Elementary School, an arrangement that angered Mount Charleston parents and residents.

The library solution would keep the kids closer to home, but first, the district would need to have discussions with the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District.

Two classrooms

According to district leadership, the library district has expressed excitement at the idea. The proposal would see CCSD adding two classrooms to the already existing library, which is down the street from Lundy, with the cost being about $1.4 million.

The district estimates the earliest completion date for a possible addition would be spring 2026.

District staff on Wednesday delivered a presentation to the trustees about efforts to find alternative options for Lundy students, including the meeting that was held with district staff and the community on Mount Charleston on Aug 1.

At that meeting, district staff said it was “abundantly clear” Lundy supporters wanted the school building to be repaired and any other option was only temporary, according to documents provided to the trustees.

Trustee Lisa Guzmán also spoke about the Aug. 1 Mount Charleston meeting.

“When we went up there, we thought we had the solution. We truly did,” Guzmán said. “We were excited about it and we wanted to tell the entire group about the two classroom add-on to the library.”

Residents unhappy

She clarified that no decision was made during the Mount Charleston meeting, but rather that the meeting was to present potential options to concerned residents.

Lundy supporters described the decision as “not acceptable.”

“Unfortunately their ‘solution’ was exactly what all the parents said they didn’t want as a permanent solution when the district came up to the mountain last Thursday,” Brenda Talley, a Mount Charleston resident, wrote in a text. “We not only lose our school, but our community center and fitness training room for our first responders.”

During board discussion, multiple trustees alleged the district mishandled the situation and commented on transparency issues. Others worried the library district would decide not to support CCSD.

Contact Ella Thompson at ethompson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @elladeethompson on X.