GINA B. GOOD / PVT A ribbon cutting held Aug. 22 at Floyd Elementary School honored the contributions of the Floyd family to the development of Pahrump as a community and town. Teachers who were readying their classrooms for the first day of school joined the celebration. Handling the scissors in the first row are: (third from left) School Board Trustee Harold Tokerud; Floyd family member Nick Moore; Ron and Charlotte Floyd; Holly Lepisto, principal of Floyd Elementary; School Board Trustee Mike Floyd; Board of Trustees President Dennis Keating; School Board Trustee Tracie Ward with her son Gerald and Superintendant of Schools Rob Roberts. Advertisement

In the dark ages before every home had a television set and decades before everyone stayed in touch with cell phones and other mobile devices, teachers throughout the country gave the same assignment on the first day of school.

Students in every grade had to write an essay telling their classmates what they did for summer vacation.

Reversing that tradition, Nye County School District's Maintenance and Operations Supervisor Robert Whimpey explains what he and his crew did during the second quarter of this year to ready the county's schools for the upcoming crop of young scholars.

The Nye County School District's Southern office in Pahrump had improvements totalling $23,000. Power was installed in the server room to run a new six-ton air conditioning unit, a new door was installed and an overhead projector was installed.

Duckwater School (K-8), improvements included installing evaporative coolers, storm windows and blinds to conserve energy. New storage cabinets were installed. All the work was done in-house by the maintenance crew.

Gabbs School (K-12) rebuilt its old oil-burning boiler that was originally manufactured around 1949 on advice from a consultant who told Whimpey, "You will never get that kind of quality now." The firebox was rebuilt and the boiler refurbished for $59,500 as opposed to buying a new one at a cost of $100,000 or more. The job is due to be completed by the end of this month. Two evaporative coolers were purchased and installed for $25,000. The new coolers are on ground level for easier service by maintenance personnel.

To better attract quality teaching staff, the small communities of Gabbs and Round Mountain have teacherages -- rental housing for teachers. At a cost of $6,400, five cement pads for housing were installed in Gabbs and four were placed in Round Mountain for manufactured homes.

Other improvements for Gabbs included upgrading the fire system to meet code, re-roofing their 720-square-foot food storage area, painting and carpet for four classrooms. The total amount to improve the school totaled $107,800.

Round Mountain Junior and Senior High (6-12) spent $10,021 to purchase bleachers and $19,757 to build dugouts and a baseball field, with the labor done by the maintenance crew. A baseball scoreboard cost $5,500. The crowning touch is a concession stand which was a joint effort between the custodial staff and students in shop classes. An old classroom was removed from the Round Mountain Elementary School and refitted to use on the baseball field.

Those items, together with an exterior paint job for the school and welding hitches on modulars so they could be moved, cost a total of $71,629.

Round Mountain Elementary had a total of $254,266 worth of improvements included removing the old classroom to use it for a concession stand, installing a new classroom, painting the modulars and installing vinyl flooring.

Silver Rim Elementary (K-2) spent $5,700 to repair the school roof, which is almost complete. Supervisor Whimpey said, "We easily saved $100,000 using M&M Roofing of Fernley. Other bids called for completely replacing the roof."

Tonopah Elementary and Middle schools (3-8) had combined expenditures of $41,000 which included abating asbestos tile under existing carpeting and replacing the carpeting for $18,000. Twenty evaporative coolers were installed, the fire system on the stage was repaired and the entire fire alarm system was upgraded. Roof repairs were made, new electrical circuitry was added for computers and vinyl flooring was installed.

Tonopah High School's completed improvements totaled $95,500 and included installing vinyl tile in hallways at a cost of $49,500. The fire alarm system was upgraded and the exterior of the school was painted.

Tonopah's School District Office was painted inside, and the maintenance crew removed a tree that was breaking a retaining wall for a total of $9,120.

For Amargosa Valley Elementary (K-8), Nye County School District piggybacked on a Clark County School District purchase for a quantity discount to buy $26,000 worth of shade covers for the playground equipment, then saved money by using Whimpey's maintenance crew to install the covers. Additional electrical circuits needed for upgrading computers were installed and the school's kitchen was brought up to new heath codes by installing a new sink. Whimpey said, "Sorely needed carpeting was replaced in two classrooms". That job went to the Carpet Center Inc., in Pahrump. Total improvements in Amargosa totaled approximately $35,000.

Beatty High School (9-12), had a long list of improvements completed for $173,600. The school now has strobe lights and fire sirens in each room, thanks to a code change that required an upgrade. The school was painted and has added electrical outlets; curbing was installed around the track along with new gravel and a concrete long jump and pole vault were constructed. The parking lot was also repaired and resurfaced.

D&H Mining rebuilt the whole Beatty football field. It was leveled and sod was laid. According to Whimpey, David Spicer, owner of the company and a graduate of the school, "did a lot extra" that was not covered in the original bid, adding landscaping, trees and rocks.

Beatty Elementary (K-8) installed sound-proofing in the gym by putting carpet on the walls and resurfaced the gym floor. Two bathrooms were refinished and now have hot water in the sinks to meet the new standard. The cost of the improvements totaled $46,500.

In Pahrump, Manse Elementary (K-5) benefited from cooperative purchasing of shade covering with the Clark County School District and playground equipment in three areas is shaded for a cost of $75,560. Parking lot lights were installed to make the area safer at night for $19,300 and as in all district schools, a camera security system is now in place. "The graffiti and vandalism have completely stopped in most areas," said Whimpey.

Tiberti Fence of Pahrump won the bid for fencing around the entire school site for $10,700. New modular classrooms replaced older buildings with Nye County purchasing with the Washoe County School District. The fire system and school intercom system were upgraded and repairs were completed to the air conditioning units in the multipurpose room. The total expenditure for Manse Elementary was $313,102.

J.G. Johnson Elementary (K-5) expenditures total $366,896 and include repairing a water boiler and installing hot water to the west wing to meet code. A water softener system was also installed to lessen the hard water impact on valves and other parts of the water system. There was a rebuild of part of the fire system, new playground equipment was purchased, and the playground was resurfaced by Snowden Landscape of Pahrump.

Fifteen classrooms were painted, shade was installed over two playground areas, a sink in the kitchen was changed out and a steam food warmer was installed.

Mt. Charleston Elementary (K-5) students are now playing on two sets of new playground equipment, for a cost of $98,091. Other projects include repairing skylights, re-siding the office and library with new fireproof cement board, re-leveling all modular classrooms and re-plumbing and repairing doors. Curbs were installed on campus, non-stick safety surfacing was installed, a handicapped ramp was added and a four-foot high fence was replaced with six-foot fencing. The maintenance staff also replaced 11 small water heaters. The total expenditures were $180,736.

Hafen Elementary (K-5) had a total of $87,506 worth of improvements, including installing a new sign. The main expenditures were for shade coverings over playground equipment. The Kindergarten area cover cost $13,912, while two other areas were shaded for a total of $62,000. The playground surface was also repaired.

Floyd Construction repaired a fire hydrant at no charge, one of many such projects done over the years. Electrical circuitry was installed for the computer lab and four classrooms with water damage were painted and repaired.

Rosemary Clarke Middle School (6-8) remodeled the counselors office, with the bid going to Pahrump's Silverbrook Homes, and rearranged front office cabinets in an effort to make the buildings more energy efficient. Bids are being sought currently to re-wire a planned computer lab. The total spent to date is $5,000.

Pahrump Valley High School (9-12) spent a total of $513,900 on grades 10-12. The high ticket item was installing new bleachers to the tune of $382,462. The old bleachers were rebuilt at a cost of $9,000, bringing them up to code for use on the visitors' side of the field. The new video security system by ABS cost $74,000. Other improvements include remodeling offices, installing an intercom system to the wood shop, auto shop and weight room and installing a car lift in auto shop. The basketball floor was resurfaced due to water damage. An air conditional control system was installed, the track was repaired and sidewalks were installed for modular classrooms.

The Ninth Grade Academy expenditures totaled $298,100. The gym floor was repaired for just $2,532 by cutting the wooden floor out of a Boulder City school, grinding out all the nails and using the recycled wood. A new mobile biology lab was by far the most costly project, costing $144,800. Nye County coordinated with Washoe County to buy their modulars together for a quantity discount.

Other projects included remodeling the principal's office, adding power transformers to A and B buildings, re-roofing the north end of building A and repairing and painting buildings A and B. The roof was repaired for building B and the school nurse's office and teachers' lounge was remodeled.

Pathways Innovative Ed completed projects include painting parking lot spaces, done by the maintenance crew and security fencing with privacy slats for $13,000. Installation of door stops and installing cabinets in modular D made a total expenditure of $15,400.