LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Clark County School District has amended its possible central budget deficit from $20 million to $10.9 million.
At the school board meeting Thursday night, Interim Superintendent Brenda Larsen-Mitchel provided the update during a presentation about the district's budget.
According to the presentation, CCSD is facing a potential central budget deficit of approximately $10.9 million, which is a revision from the $20 million deficit announced last week in response to a letter sent from the Nevada Department of Education.
"What I am understanding is that the reason the [possible budget deficit] number is fluctuating is because we are closing out, right. And I don't think that's what the public understands. As we close out, the number will change and I believe at the end of this month, we will have a number that we could that we could report. Is that accurate?," asked Trustee Irene Bustamante Adams.
"Yes, you are accurate. In our communication that we put out to schools and community and staff, we are in the midst of our year end close out process, which typically runs through mid October," responded Interim Superintendent Larsen-Mitchell.
The presentation states that the district is currently facing two separate budgetary challenges.
One of the issues at hand is at the district level, and the other budget dilemma is at the school level.
According to school officials, no school budgets were impacted by the potential deficit at the district level.
Interim Larsen-Mitchell said the potential budget deficit at the district level is due to unanticipated expenses related to litigation and cybersecurity.
She said the district plans to use the "ending fund balance" to absorb the potential central budget deficit. The ending fund balance is money left over after the district pays all its bills.
"We are looking at absorbing that centrally using the unassigned ending fund balance. And we also working collaboratively with chiefs to review some things that we are able to cut centrally. Again, avoiding any impact to schools," said Larsen-Mitchell.
During the presentations, Interim Larsen-Mitchell said the district has a budget of roughly $30 million for litigation expenses but exceeded the budget by roughly $23 million.
In the meantime, the district said that the inaccurate calculations of At-Risk funding and the failure to incorporate the 8 percent increase in teacher pay in the spring school strategic budget caused some schools to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars. At-risk funding is extra money schools get from the state for Special Ed students or kids who just need extra help meeting academic standards.
"The potential central budget deficit did not in any way impact what was allocated to school nor what it is costing school to purchase positions or services. Plain and simple. What they are experiencing is the result of the incorrect allocation of At- Risk funds in the spring. In some cases, schools budget an amount of money they should not have been allocated. They were, in some cases, over-allocated in January. That number was trued up in the fall, so they are experiencing that as a budget cut, for sure, but the reality is those dollars should not have been allocated in the first place," said a CCSD official.
Many schools have eliminated vacant positions or reduced extra contracted hours, and some schools have eliminated filled positions due to school-level budget issues. Employees in eliminated positions will participate in surplus processes according to the aligned bargaining agreement.
The presentation showed that 37 licensed professionals will be reassigned through the surplus process due to budget adjustments in the normal strategic budget process. This is the second-lowest number of licensed professionals in the surplus process in the past 10 years, according to the presentation.
In a letter to the State Board of Education addressing CCSD's budget issues last week, 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 state uses the GRAD score to identify which students are most likely to drop out.
The district also provided short-term and long-term "solutions" they said they would be implementing to help prevent future funding issues from arising.
Short-Term Solutions:
- 1:1 Meetings with Budget Analysts
- School Support
- Ongoing Meetings with Principals
- Unassigned Ending Fund Balance
Long-Term Solutions:
- Prepare for FY 2026 Budgets (January 2025)
- Increase broad understanding and visibility into the allocation of dollars across schools.
