More discussion and a second vote are planned this week for Reno City Council members as they decide whether to uphold or reverse an administrator’s approval for a new K-12 charter school in the North Valleys. 

During the July 24 Reno City Council meeting, hundreds of public commenters provided their opinions on a use permit appeal for the proposed Mater Academy in the North Valleys. Staff initially approved the project, but the Washoe County School District (WCSD) appealed the decision, stating that the proposed site was not up to city standards and would cause traffic problems in the area. School staff also said the school was pushed forward without community input. 

Two teachers and both the Washoe and state education associations also filed appeals against the approval.

The permit would allow the K-12 charter school to be built adjacent to a residential zoning district and an existing WCSD school, Alice Smith Elementary. The properties are so close that their playgrounds would touch if the school is built. 

The proposed site has two zoning districts within its boundary lines: single-family residential for the elementary and middle schools and general commercial for the high school. 

“This is not just traffic congestion we’re talking about, it’s children’s safety here.” 

Concerns include traffic issues, site design, compatibility with surrounding developments and natural resource protection, according to a presentation by WCSD’s Chief Operating Officer Adam Searcy, who opposes the school. 

The two-story school’s proposed design includes a connected high school building, a K-8 school building and a standalone single-story gymnasium. It would span approximately 150,000 square feet and be built in three phases over six years, beginning with the elementary and middle school buildings. Each school would accommodate just under 800 students. On completion of the entire project, around 1,500 students would be enrolled. 

For traffic mitigation, the current Alice Smith school zone is proposed to be expanded to include the new school. More flashing beacons and crosswalks would also be installed, and a dedicated right-turn lane onto the campus would be included. The campus’s access point would be off North Valleys Boulevard, while Alice Smith Elementary is accessible through Beckworth Drive. 

A 30-minute bell schedule stagger time would also be enacted between schools to offset traffic issues, and a double stacking lane would be included to allow 30 cars to simultaneously pick up and drop off students 

The appeal

WCSD’s Searcy said the district opposed the new school because the approval process was “deeply flawed” and “lacked transparency.” He also said documents do not meet necessary findings, nor does the project meet zoning codes or project standards. The school district is an adjacent property owner and a technical expert in the field, he added. 

Searcy said the district provided comment on the project nine months ago, but, since then, “It has only been through great individual effort to learn much of anything about the critical details required for approval.” 

The project included zero public hearings, Searcy said, and only upon “repeated requests” did the district learn that approval had even been issued. He said the district was forced to file multiple public record requests just to obtain information regarding traffic studies for the project. 

“The public is done a great disservice by this lack of transparency,” Searcy said, adding that “postcards emailed to your junk folder” are far beneath the standards of communication necessary for a project of this significance. 

Searcy said that for all of the schools recently built throughout the city of Reno, multiple public hearings were held in a “good faith effort” to partner with community members and the city. 

“The community deserves better,” he added. 

Following public records requests, Searcy said it was revealed that the traffic study had resulted in multiple “Fs” in the level of service for several intersections if the project were to be initiated. 

During the city’s presentation, however, city planner Leah Piccotti did not mention this traffic study’s findings, instead saying that what the applicant was proposing based on the traffic study would be sufficient, including a $700,000 payment to RTC.  

Those mitigations seem to have only raised some of the “Fs” to a “D-,” according to Searcy’s presentation. 

“The implementation of this project will immediately result in seven intersections in the vicinity failing to meet code, including five of which are documented at a level of service F,” Searcy said. “This is not just traffic congestion we’re talking about, it’s children’s safety here.” 

On further discussions of traffic mitigation, Searcy pointed out that, unlike WCSD schools, the proposed 1,500-student school has no transportation for students and no specified zoning, which means all students will need to be brought to the school from all areas of the city in personal vehicles, or students would walk to school. 

Searcy said that primary schools are not allowed within general commercial zoning. He argued the applicant should have initiated a zone change before the project was approved. He said the plan also does not adhere to necessary setbacks and access that schools must follow. 

Piccotti said they do not force applicants to change zonings to public facilities. “It’s not inappropriate zoning, it’s appropriate zoning. Schools are allowed pretty much in all of the zoning districts.” 

Searcy said there is past precedent for denial within the area, as the nearby North Hills multi-family project was denied in 2022 by the Reno Planning Commission due to traffic concerns which, Searcy said, proposed “four times less traffic” than the Mater Academy proposal. 

Searcy said the project should undergo a zone change which would then give the applicant the opportunity to remedy many of the issues. 

Washoe Education Association Board Member Adrienne Conley said charter schools negatively impact the district when students leave them to return to their original school. She said the issue lies in both funding and education. 

When a student is enrolled at a charter during “count day,” their per-pupil funding goes to that school. However, if the student returns to the original district school after count-day, their funding does not come with them. 

In addition, Conley said, these students are typically half a year behind in coursework compared to their peers. The school must then figure out how to help the student reach their academic goals without any additional funding. 

“We are not having a referendum on the value of charter schools or the excellence of Mater Academy.”

“Students that come in mid-year [from a charter school to kindergarten] are unable to write their names, they don’t know their letters, they don’t know their sounds, and they are way behind the students in my classrooms,” Conley said. 

However, Mater kindergarten teacher, and former WCSD teacher, Nikki Miller disputed Conley’s statements. She said the claim was “offensive” and that 100% of her students not only could write their names but also basic sentences by the time they left her classroom.  

WEA Board Member Jeni Martinez said Mater Academy is already causing “traffic jams” at their current East Ninth Street location, resulting in numerous complaints from residents and motorists. 

Community input

While the majority of written public commenters were against Mater Academy’s permit, the vast majority of in-person public commenters were in favor of Mater’s expansion.

A number of current Mater students and parents asked council members to approve the expansion. Parents said their children have received personal attention and important educational opportunities at Mater they did not receive in WCSD. 

Other WCSD parents, who do not have students at Mater, also spoke in favor of the expansion, citing what they see as ongoing issues within WCSD schools, such as bullying and failure to adhere to individualized education programs (IEPs). 

One Mater teacher, Melissa Estep, said she left WCSD due to safety issues after serving as a long-term substitute and student teacher. She said she was required to wear a panic button around her neck due to the “constant” fights that broke out at the school. She said 40% of students said they were frequently bullied, 34% said they felt unsafe in their bathrooms and 20% said they’d stayed home out of safety fears. 

Estep, who teaches middle school social studies, said Mater’s wait list is very long because parents are looking for a safe alternative to the school district. 

North Valleys High School Principal Tomas Macaluso said he believes any school should have to traverse the same “regulatory hurdles” that public schools must when it comes to infrastructure. 

Many WCSD teachers and administrators spoke against the charter school, stating that charter schools siphon money and resources from public schools while cherry-picking their students, which falsely inflates the quality of their education. 

Several teachers pointed out that while charter schools absorb all students at the beginning of the year, they begin making “cuts” afterward for students who have behavioral issues or may need more specialized attention. By removing these students from their enrollment, they retain only students from involved families who will have higher academic achievements. 

Ryan Reeves of Academica Nevada, the Educational Management Organization (EMO) behind Mater Academies, said Academica is not an out-of-state corporation whose goal is just to steal money from the schools. He said Academica charges less than 5% per pupil funding to provide important services to the school that a district might provide, such as legal counsel, accountants and facility experts. 

Reeves’ comments weren’t entirely true. While based in Nevada, Academica Nevada is actually a branch of the largest for-profit EMO in the country: the controversial Florida-based Academica. In Nevada, the company manages 27 schools with 53% of all charter school enrollments—more than 32,500 students based on 2023-2024 school year enrollment data from the Nevada Department of Education.

Council discussions

Council member Meghan Ebert, who represents Ward 4 including the North Valleys, asked why WCSD officials didn’t contact her directly to discuss the appeal. She said she understands the issues community members shared about charter schools in general but doesn’t believe they would apply to discussions about whether Mater should be allowed on this property specifically.

Ebert said she supports charter schools because she is very concerned about issues raised by school representatives in her ward. 

Council member Naomi Duerr said it’s clear Mater is a successful school. She said their goal is to offer choice, and that would be a loss to the district. Its quality, however, wasn’t the issue.

“We are not having a referendum on the value of charter schools or the excellence of Mater Academy,” Duerr said. “We are evaluating whether or not the proposal meets the criteria. That’s the lens that I’m looking at this with.”

Duerr said it comes down to traffic. She said everyone has to drive to a charter school, which is the major difference from WCSD schools. She said parking and traffic issues should have been addressed prior to approval. 

She also said she believes a traffic light needs to be installed on Beckworth Drive and other road improvements made. She said a dedicated right-turn lane would not be enough.  

Council member Kathleen Taylor similarly said she is looking at zoning and traffic. She said she takes offense to the implication that the process lacked transparency and that the city’s team does a “phenomenal job.” 

Taylor said she believes mitigation appears to be in place for the traffic in and around the school campus, but she asked if it would impact surrounding roadways and the freeway. According to traffic engineers, the scope of the review and approval is limited to just the roadways surrounding the school.

Council member Miguel Martinez said, as an educator who worked and attended schools in the area, he understands the district’s fears. However, he said he could make the findings for approval. Martinez has supported Mater Academy in the past. In April 2023, he donated $500 in council discretionary funds to the school.

Council member Devon Reese asked whether the proposal was brought before the Neighborhood Advisory Board (NAB) for the community to review. Piccotti said it was not, but that NAB board members were on their “motivation list.” 

“So they knew about it,” she said. 

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s really the function of the NAB,” Reese said. “It’s not that NAB members get to know that it’s happening, it’s that the public gets to come and see it and put their hands on the project and determine whether or not they want it.” 

On zoning, Reese asked if it would be allowed under planning if, for example, a DMV was built next to a DMV. Piccotti said that under code, it could. 

Schieve asked why the project did not go before the Planning Commission. Piccotti said there is no public process for school approvals, and meetings are not triggered for traffic mitigation the way that proposed housing projects are. 

Ebert mentioned that all of the North Valleys schools were recently rezoned because they were over capacity. 

“If we’re not over capacity right now, it’s because you just rezoned and you’re shuffling kids to other schools,” she said. “Maybe a benefit [of a charter] would mean they wouldn’t have to move schools.” 

“We need all the help we can get in the North Valleys. Yes, traffic is an issue, but education is a very important resource for our community, and I want our kids to have the best possible start in education for their lives,” she added.  

Ebert said the teachers in the North Valleys are passionate and are doing their best, but they don’t have enough support. She said she is concerned with education in the North Valleys. 

“This school is a benefit and a resource to our community, and it is worth the traffic,” Ebert said. 

Reese took issue with this, stating that it was “rather odd that the Ward 4 member is arguing that the ends justify the means … I don’t think ‘the ends justify the means’ are what we’re supposed to do as a body.” 

Reese also said he did not “want to hear anything else about traffic in the North Valleys” for the remainder of Ebert’s term if that was going to be her stance, because then it would just be “picking and choosing” which projects she wants to allow. 

Taylor said she reached out to the WCSD directly as she believes it is a council member’s responsibility to do so. She asked Piccotti whether the district would have to go through the same process to build a new school, and Piccotti said it would be exactly the same. 

“It just comes down to traffic,” Taylor said. “What I need to understand is, are there mitigations planned or for the future for this project to mitigate the traffic?” 

Mike Mischel, a city engineer, said city staff is comfortable that the school’s plan mitigates the traffic impacts. Reese then asked why a zone change wasn’t required. Piccotti said where the schools are placed is consistent with each zoning district it falls onto. Reese also said he was concerned by the acreage of the school site, stating that it was “tight.” 

He said he wouldn’t be supporting the project based on its location and traffic issues. 

The proposal ended in a tie vote with Duerr, Taylor and Reese voting against the school proposal and Martinez, Ebert and Schieve voting in favor. Council member Jenny Brekhus was absent. Because the vote ended in a tie, the appeal was continued to the next council meeting which will take place July 31.