LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — For the past year, Shanna Haynie has been a part of the Liliam Lujan Hickey Elementary School Organizational Team, also known as the SOT.
She has two kids at the elementary school and said she wanted to get more involved in their education by learning how it operates.
"This was a good way to find out how things are run," Haynie said.
SOTs include parents, teachers, support staff, community members, and secondary school students.
The SOT can provide input regarding the selection of a new principal and vote to pass the school Plan of Operation (strategic budget and school performance plan).
When their SOT group met on Sept. 25, they were concerned about how the recent CCSD budget situation would affect their school budget.
While they were prepared to have a conversation about absorbing the deficit, they were surprised when the principal informed them about another major budgetary problem, which was a decrease in their At-Risk funding.
At-Risk funding is additional money schools across the valley receive from the state for students who are considered English language learners, special education students, or kids who just need extra help meeting academic standards.
The exact amount each school receives differs from school to school.
The At-Risk funding does not contribute to the roughly $20 million possible budget deficit CCSD is facing.
The combined decrease in At-Risk funds at Hickey Elementary is more than $200,000, according to Haynie.
She said they had to cover the shortfall with money from their carryover funds--or savings account—to ensure their kids' services were not impacted.
"So frustrated that we are not being told these issues well in advance. We could have used those funds for something else to help our students," Haynie said. "Our funding was hit specifically by $200K, which is a huge hit. And our school population did not decrease as they had predicted. It actually increased a little bit, but a school right close to us, the high school, their student population decreased by at least 200, and yet they went up in funds."
"We were left wondering if the cuts to our At-Risk and English Learner funds were a state issue or another budgetary problem caused by former CCSD Chief Financial Officer Jason Goudie," said Jessica Jones, SOT Chair at Hickey Elementary.
In a letter to the State Board of Education addressing CCSD's budget issues, Interim Superintendent Brenda Larsen-Mitchell acknowledged there were inaccuracies with the measurement used to calculate the At-Risk funding.
"On or before January 15, 2024, pursuant to NRS 388G.680(1), the District established the required estimate based on the information available at the time. However, it was discovered that the data for which students were found to be eligible for At-Risk funding was developed using Free-and-Reduced-Lunch eligibility rather than the GRAD score. This inaccuracy was corrected for the fall budgets, and the District has updated this information on openbook.ccsd.net," said Larsen-Mithcell.
The GRAD score is is a measurement that the state uses to identify which students are most likely to drop out.
"We get our budget in September. Like, you're not figuring you messed up in February or March?" Haynie said.
Haynie still wants to know how and why the wrong measurement was used to determine the At-Risk funding.
She and other SOT members sent a letter the Nevada Department of Education demanding answers.
The department said they are looking at the district's explanation of the budget crisis and will respond accordingly.
