CMS plans to move Monterrey Elementary students to Riverside as school is remodeled

Carlsbad Municipals Schools Superintendent Dr. Gerry Washburn announced during a school board meeting that the district planned to move students from Monterrey Elementary School to Riverside Elementary School in the  2022-2023 school year.

The move will help facilitate planned construction at Monterrey. 

Ongoing construction at Riverside Elementary School is expected to be completed by July, meaning students can be housed at the school by August, Washburn said. 

Riverside Elementary was initially expected to reopen in 2021 but construction was delayed due to COVID-19. 

The district planned to remodel both schools with funds from an $80 million bond approved by the residents of Carlsbad in 2019.

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Traffic concerns from community, city impact decision

The District had initially considered moving students from Monterrey Elementary School to Joe Stanley Smith Elementary — which is currently unoccupied — but the City of Carlsbad was concerned about adding traffic to the area, Washburn said.

"Some community members are going to be concerned about traffic. There's a perception that it was a walking school. It does have a lot of walking traffic but we were always going to have buses there," Washburn said.

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Other traffic alleviation projects planned

Washburn said the District also planned new projects meant to alleviate traffic near Ocotillo Elementary School and Lea Street, including the addition of a road connecting the school to Captain Williams Drive and which intercepts with Callaway Drive.

"It will considerably clear up a lot of the congestion in those neighborhoods," Washburn said.

To help alleviate traffic on Lea Street, the addition of a drop-off and pick-up lane to the Early Childhood Education Center was planned.

Washburn said the District is working to determine the cost associated with the planned traffic projects. It plans to use money appropriated by the Public School Buildings Act to fund them.

Claudia Silva is a reporter from the UNM Local Reporting Fellowship. She can be reached at csilva2@currentargus.com, by phone at 575-628-5506 or on Twitter @thewatchpup.