Clark County School District officials gathered on the campus of James Cashman Middle School this week for a ceremonial groundbreaking, marking the start of construction on a new PreK-8 facility that will replace the aging 1960s-era campus in West Las Vegas. The new school, set to open during the 2028-29 school year, will serve 1,200 Las Vegas Valley students once complete.
According to CCSD, the new school will be the district's first middle school Career and Technical Academy, extending hands-on vocational coursework to younger grade levels for the first time. As reported by KSNV, school officials celebrated the start of construction as a milestone for the neighborhood. The move builds on state priorities: Nevada education officials have pushed to expand Career and Technical Education options into feeder schools earlier, aiming to connect K-12 coursework directly to regional workforce demands, according to the Nevada Department of Education.
A Campus Named for a Las Vegas Pioneer
Cashman Middle School, located at 4622 W. Desert Inn Road, was originally dedicated in 1966 in honor of James “Big Jim” Cashman Sr., a pioneer Las Vegas businessman and civic leader who established early automobile and civic enterprises in the city, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The campus currently houses a specialized STEAM magnet program, originally founded in 2007 as the Academy of Mathematics, Science, and Engineering, offering coursework in robotics, automation, and aerospace engineering that has earned merit recognitions from Magnet Schools of America.
CCSD facility planning estimates from 2023 pegged the replacement cost of the 1965-era campus at roughly $85 million, the Review-Journal reported, as the school became one of more than 30 aging campuses targeted for replacement or overhaul districtwide. The project's path to this week's groundbreaking wasn't straightforward. In April 2025, the CCSD Board of Trustees voted to temporarily pause construction on several replacement projects, including Cashman, to reevaluate capital priorities amid escalating construction costs and lower enrollment projections, according to the 21st Century School Buildings Coalition.
Rebuilding Amid a $15 Billion Repair Gap
The Cashman project fits into a much larger financial picture across the district. CCSD's 2026 facility master plan identified $15 billion in total modernization and repair needs across roughly 400 school campuses, compared to just $3.6 billion in available bond funds, leaving an $11.4 billion shortfall for long-term facility updates valley-wide, as Hoodline previously reported. The new PreK-8 construction aligns with the district's early-action capital strategy to rebuild eight schools over four years while expanding PreK-8 grade structures across the valley, as district leaders weigh grade-level consolidations to address shifting demographics.
Academic Gains and Neighborhood Safety Concerns
The rebuild comes as the existing campus has shown academic momentum. During a back-to-school visit last month, CCSD Superintendent Jhone Ebert highlighted Cashman's progress, noting student math proficiency rose 8 percentage points to 25.3% over the prior academic year, well above the two-to-three percentage point gains typical across the district, per the Review-Journal.
Safety along the school's main corridor has also drawn attention. Ahead of the 2026-2027 school year, district police and local law enforcement deployed targeted traffic patrols along West Desert Inn Road outside Cashman Middle School after district data recorded 427 student pedestrian collisions during the prior school year, according to FOX5 Las Vegas. The corridor has also been the focus of broader community concern: in March 2025, Clark County commissioners and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police led a community Peace Walk ending at Cashman Park to counter gang activity and violent incidents affecting Cashman Middle and Clark High students, as Hoodline covered at the time.
Together, the groundbreaking represents both an academic upgrade for a campus already showing gains and a fresh anchor for a West Las Vegas neighborhood that has weathered years of underinvestment, safety concerns, and now a multibillion-dollar districtwide funding squeeze. When the new PreK-8 school opens in 2028, it will carry forward the Cashman name while reshaping what a middle school education looks like across Clark County.
