LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Clark County School District's teacher recruiting trips — and the federal tax dollars used to pay for them — are now under further scrutiny at the state and federal level.
This news comes in the wake of a 13 Investigates report revealing that the three pricey beachfront excursions landed almost zero return on the district's investment.
We've now received word that both the U.S. and Nevada Department of Education are evaluating the nearly $55,000 used to recruit coast to coast and beyond.
It was the week of July 4, 2023 when at least 17 Clark County School District employees flew to Miami, where they stayed for five days at the Holiday Inn
Oceanfront hotel. There was no job fair or education convention. The district created its own hiring event, holding two recruiting sessions over two half-days amid the nearly week-long trip.
The district confirms only two people showed up, and neither of them filled out an application.
The trip cost nearly $40,000 — most of which came from the federal pandemic-era Elementary and Secondary School Relief Fund, often referred to as the ESSER fund.
In a recent interview, I asked Superintendent Dr. Jesus Jara about the spending.
Darcy Spears: Was that a successful expense of tax dollars and employee time?
Jesus Jara: Well, obviously it wasn't. But I can tell you this: In the state of Florida, teachers are under attack...by the governor, by the legislature, so why not go out and recruit where we can try to find teachers to come?
The U.S. and Nevada Departments of Education may provide the answer to that question. When we first reported this story in December, we asked the feds if recruitment travel was an appropriate expense of those COVID relief dollars. They sent us a 97-page document with a reference on one page saying the funds can be spent to "stabilize the educator workforce."
But it doesn't define what that means. Now, the Nevada Department of Education says it's "currently evaluating the criteria and allowability requirements for ESSER funding requests of this nature."
The state is working with the feds, providing documentation about the program approval process after conducting "its own research into the use of these funds."
Without saying what they found, the state did say it shared findings with the feds on Jan.30 — the day after our second investigation about CCSD's use of federal pandemic aid dollars to send staff on trips to recruit teachers at beach vacation spots.
Former CCSD school board Trustee Danielle Ford said of the spending, "I think it's absolutely insane."
"I think that the public deserves to know every single cent that was spent, who it went to, why that decision was made and whether or not there was a return on investment for them," Ford said.
I asked Supt. Jara about a return on investment in my recent interview:
"Obviously, we didn't get a return on what we wanted, so we've got to re-look at our ROI [return on investment]," he said. "But, to me, it's...we have to continue looking and go to places where the public education is not supported."
Another place CCSD went looking was Waikiki Beach in Hawaii, where Jara says educators are living in poverty. District staff traveled twice to the island of Oahu last year to recruit teachers. The total cost for those two trips was just over $22,000 — again, primarily from federal COVID relief funds.
Darcy Spears: You approved those Hawaii trips?
Jesus Jara: Absolutely, absolutely.
Spears: Were those successful?
Jara: Well, I don't know what the return was.
The district says 100 candidates showed up at the September event it created. Two resumes were collected and three were recommended for hire. When asked about the new federal inquiry, CCSD said the Nevada Department of Education gave pre-approval to use ESSER funds for the Miami and Hawaii trips.
CCSD sent us this statement, which reads in part:
“Funds have been budgeted for HR recruitment travel out of district to fund 8 recruiters and 4 District principal ambassadors to travel to major metropolitan areas... to conduct job fairs to recruit educators to come and teach in Clark County School District. The COVID-19 pandemic had a critical negative impact on education staffing; leaving Clark County with an even higher vacancy rate than it was already experiencing prior to the pandemic.”
The state says while the use of federal funding is an allowable expense for teacher recruitment and retention, each school district is responsible for following its own policies and procedures regarding recruitment and retention.
Nevada Department of Education's statement on this inquiry:
"The Nevada Department of Education's Supporting Students Resource Guide currently outlines that ESSER funds may be used for “conducting other activities necessary to maintain the operation of services, employ existing staff, increase instructional hours that were reduced due to COVID-19, and coordinate activities.”
In an effort to refine and improve the ESSER allocation process, the Nevada Department of Education is currently evaluating the criteria and allowability requirements for ESSER funding requests of this nature.
The Nevada Department of Education (NDE) is currently working with the United States Department of Education (USED) to evaluate the use of these funds. The NDE provided documentation about the program approval process to the USED. Additionally, the NDE conducted its own research into the use of these funds and provided the findings to USED on January 30.
While the use of federal funding is an allowable expense for teacher recruitment and retention, each Local Educational Agency (LEA) is responsible for following their own policies and procedures regarding recruitment and retention."
Clark County School District's full statement on this inquiry:
"Before engaging in the out-of-state recruitment initiatives (Miami and Hawaii), CCSD submitted a recruitment-related travel description to the Nevada Department of Education (NDE) as part of Amendment 2 of the District’s ESSER II, which they approved. That amendment included the following language:
'Funds have been budgeted for HR recruitment travel out of district to fund 8 recruiters and 4 District principal ambassadors to travel to major metropolitan areas (e.g., Miami, San Francisco, Honolulu) to conduct job fairs to recruit educators to come and teach in Clark County School District. The COVID-19 pandemic had a critical negative impact on education staffing; leaving Clark County with an even higher vacancy rate than it was already experiencing prior to the pandemic.'
The amendment was reviewed at the NDE program level, and the plan was 'approved as reasonable, allowable, and allocable expenses' by NDE on May 26, 2023. The final cost for the Miami recruitment initiative is $32,427.15, slightly higher than previously reported ($29,094.75) due to a prior calculation error. The final cost for the Hawaii recruitment initiatives was $22,181.61."
Statement from the U.S. Department of Education:
"The U.S. Department of Education continues to work with Nevada and all grantees to ensure COVID-relief funds are used in allowable ways, consistent with statutory requirements."
