A drone shot of the Whittell High School campus from the school's website.
A feasibility study with Western Nevada College is exploring options on increasing enrollment and academic interests at Lake Tahoe's Whittell High School.
Student enrollment at the Lake Tahoe schools has been declining for the better part of the 21st Century, leading to the closure of Kingsbury Middle School in 2008.
Whittell High School principal Sean Ryan and vice principal Jim Pace gave a brief overview on recent enrollment counts and activities for Whittell High and Middle and Zephyr Cove Elementary schools.
According to the District, the combined Whittell schools had 128 students in September and Zephyr Cove had 151 for a combined enrollment of 279. Total enrollment for the schools in 2012 was 417. There were around 800 students attending the Tahoe schools in 2001.
Pace said students in the ninth through 12th grade range have realized there aren’t many opportunities for electives and sports teams and said school administrators would begin addressing the issue.
“Families truly appreciate the small size we offer, but then once they hit that 9-12 area, they’re looking for more opportunities,” Pace said, alluding to established sports programs such as its championship volleyball team that went undefeated last year.
Ryan and Pace described a study with WNC to include an early or middle college program for lake schools, increasing college and career preparatory offerings for students. Ryan said a committee of stakeholders, including WNC and district staff members such as administrators, parent representatives and facilitators, all took part in the conversations for five months with a goal for implementation in the 2024-25 school year.
Ryan said the committee concluded that access to any dual credit program or implementation to an early college or middle college program “could provide George Whittell students more options or autonomy in their educational journey” but added opportunity for dual credit already is available through WNC’s JumpStart program.
“The committee determined this implementation would not be a unique opportunity since it was already available to all students,” he said.
Trustee Doug Englekirk was interested in opening the conversation to further research on other programs or trade school offerings such as emergency medical training, a fire explorer program or an auto shop, if the interest exists in South Lake Tahoe.
“Students at Douglas High (School) might want a smaller environment,” Englekirk said. “Another person expressed a comment that they were a little worried they were going to shut the school down. I don’t think anybody on the board here is interested in doing that. We’re all fighting to keep the schools viable.”
Superintendent Keith Lewis said while gauging interest is important, transportation also is a consideration, with the district having to perform hub stops as more academic and extracurricular activities grow later into the evenings.
“It wouldn’t behoove us to have a fire science program if no one’s interested in fire science,” Lewis said. “So what are those interests? Can we do a nursing program up here? They’re beyond that study to forming another committee to see viability. It’s a broader district.”
Lewis said years ago, the school board decided not to fund a dual enrollment program, and now its numbers in JumpStart look “paltry” compared to other districts even as grant funds have run out, encouraging board members to take up a discussion on the matter again.
Englekirk asked staff to return with an item on the interlocal agreements with surrounding agencies. Lewis said he also envisioned a conversation with Superintendent Todd Cutler of neighboring school district Lake Tahoe Unified School District in El Dorado, Calif., as well as reaching out to Superintendent of Public Instruction Jhone Ebert of the Nevada Department of Education to assist.
