New high school set to open in 2009
by Kathleen Stinson

CAVE CREEK – The Cave Creek Unified School District will soon vote on a location for construction of a second high school scheduled to open the fall of 2009.

At this time, the district has about 1,700 high school students but is expected to grow to 2,785 students by 2020, according to Associate Superintendent Dr. Kent Frison.

Cactus Shadows High School was designed to serve 1,500 students. To hold the additional students, the district has taken over seven classrooms in the nearby Black Mountain facility.

The district governing board is expected to decide at its second meeting in January whether to locate the new school on its existing southern or northern campus sites.

“There are pros and cons to locating on both sites,” Frison said.

The Long Range Facilities Planning Committee concluded that placing the new high school on the southern campus would allow for the establishment of a unique school identity and could draw from developments east and west of Tatum Road, adding to the school’s enrollment numbers.

Locating the new school on the northern campus would save maintenance and operation dollars on staffing a separate southern campus, according to the committee report. Two high schools on the north campus would allow for sharing of security, grounds, food service and custodial staff as well as shared athletic and cafeteria facilities.

If the board decides to locate a second school on its northern campus, the student population will be drawn from the entire district, Frison said. If they decide to build a new school on its southern campus at Jomax Road and 56th Street, then students nearer the school will attend the new campus.

Both sites span about 160 acres, and each has room for a new high school.

The new high school is already funded. Half will come from existing bond money, with the remainder from the School Facilities Board, a state agency.

Construction of the new high school is expected to begin in the fall of 2007.

Reach the reporter at kathleen@thedesertadvocate.com.