Silver State Charter plans move in March

Students at Silver State Charter School should be attending classes in the new location by mid-March, said school Superintendent Steve Knight.

Although the construction work should be done by the middle of this month, he said, the move won't happen for a couple of months.

"The big thing, by far, is moving all of our technology over," Knight said. "We're looking forward to it, but with a little bit of dread because it's a lot of work. We have a lot of equipment to move."

Initially, the plan was to move during the Christmas break, he said, but last-minute code requirements disrupted that schedule.

He said that just before closing escrow, officials learned the roof would have be retrofitted to meet a more stringent code for schools and community centers.

"We didn't suspect that," Knight said.

However, the mild winter has made the process go more smoothly and quickly as parts of the roof need to be opened up during the work.

"The weather gods have been good to us," Knight said. "We're about 40-50 percent done with the roof."

Inside, three walls are being removed and a door is being added.

The charter school, opened in 2003 as a hybrid online school where students attend classes once a week, now serves as a high school and middle school.

With about 450 students enrolled, he said, the school has outgrown its 16,000-square-foot space in the strip mall at 3719 N. Carson St.

The move to Mallory Way is to a main building of 40,000 square feet and the ability to eventually expand to a 70,000-square-foot campus.

In addition to giving students more room, the new location offers other benefits, Knight said.

Students are often taken by bus to the Fitness for 10 center for physical education class. From the new school, students can walk.

"Essentially," Knight said, "they just have to cross the street. And we don't have to transport them."

The new site will have the ability to run at Internet speeds of 150 MB per second, he said - nearly 10 times faster than the current capability.

The building was vacated in July 2010 by the Nevada Insurance Division after workers reported feeling ill as a result of a chemical spray used to clean pigeon droppings.

Now, Knight said, the building has been made safe and clean.

"Everything has been torn out and replaced," he said. "It's been checked and rechecked for everything from mold to asbestos and everything in between.

"That building is as clean as a whistle and healthy as any building."