Students moved out of classrooms

Don’t expect to see students at Union Elementary School in their classrooms.

Most of the children have been in the cafeteria, the computer lab or the library for the last week because of a broken heating system, officials said Tuesday.

West Las Vegas Superintendent Jim Abreu said the school has heating at both ends of its building, but because of a broken part in the heater, the middle of the building, where the classrooms are, is without heat. The school has been dealing with the problem for the last couple of weeks, he said.

“It’s a little bit inconvenient because the students are not in a classroom setting,” he said.

Abreu announced a day earlier that he wanted to solve the heating problems in the district once and for all, rather than continuing to place Band-Aids on systems. That was in reaction to the latest problems with bursting pipes and heating problems at West Las Vegas High School.

He noted that as of Monday, only three of the high school’s 40 classrooms were without heat, one of which was unoccupied.

Abreu also said West Las Vegas Middle School continues to suffer from problems with its heating system, with it going off unexpectedly. He said the school has ordered a new part.

“As far as I know, all of the other schools are in good shape,” he said.

As for Union, the district has a long-term plan to put the Family Partnership, an alternative high school, into the building. The students at Union will eventually be moved to Tony Serna and Don Cecilio Martinez elementary schools. But that change isn’t expected to take place for some time.

Abreu said the school district is trying to get money to improve Union, but he said the state rejected West’s first plan, which included a new all-purpose room, administrative offices and science lab. Getting the state’s approval is critical because the district needs state money for the project, he said.