It's official — more educational options are coming to the valley. Henderson is among two southern Nevada municipalities that recently received approval from the state department of education to become a public charter school sponsor.
Channel 13 anchor Anjali Patel went one-on-one with the mayor of Henderson to learn more about what that process will look like and what's next.
Mayor Michelle Romero said she's heard from many families who say they want more choices when it comes to education. Those options could come as soon as the 2025 to 2026 school year. That's when Romero said Henderson expects to open its first city-sponsored public charter school.
"They are all concerned about education. They are all open to having more options. They have encouraged us to do whatever we can to provide those options," Romero said.
Romero said she believes this will be beneficial for everyone — including current Clark County School District students. She said overcrowding at schools is a constant complaint she hears from families. She hopes creating more schools will reduce that crowding and lead to more one-on-one attention for students across the city.
"Almost every school we have is overcrowded at this point," Romero said.
She said she also hopes this improves the overall quality of education at all schools in the city. At a Dec. 5, 2023 city council meeting, Romero and other council members had expressed some concerns after receiving a report from CCSD about performance grades at district schools within the city.
"Does that have anything to do with the desire to create more options for families here?"' Patel asked Romero.
"I think in general, we need to ensure we have the best outcomes possible for kids, and I think more choice does that. Anytime there's competition between schools to be the best at educating our kids, I think it's a healthy thing to do," Romero said. "It eases overcrowding, so each child can have more individual attention and direction. I think anything we can do to address all of the things that are leading to our low scores will help CCSD and will help our families."
In total, the mayor said she expects the city of Henderson to be able to sponsor up to four new public charter schools. There is a limit to how many students these new schools can serve, as mandated by Assembly Bill 400— the sweeping education bill signed into law by Gov. Joe Lombardo last year. That law empowers local municipalities to sponsor their own public charter schools. It also puts a cap on how many students those new schools can accommodate.
The law states that a municipality "may not sponsor a new charter school or allow an existing charter school sponsored by the city or county to increase enrollment or operate an additional campus of an existing charter school sponsored by the city or county if the total number of pupils enrolled in charter schools sponsored by the city or county is 7 percent or more of the number of pupils enrolled in public schools in the city or county other than charter schools that are not sponsored by the city or county."
Romero said the city has already been approached by numerous charter schools looking to open up locations in Henderson. For now, though, she said the city is focusing on formally putting together a board and budget with money they've already set aside for this.
The City of North Las Vegas also received approval from the state to become a public charter school sponsor. Officials there previously told Channel 13 the city could open its first city-sponsored public charter school as early as 2025, as well.
