LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — For the past week, we've been staying on top of the finances and the possible budget deficit at the Clark County School District, culminating in the firing of the Chief Financial Officer Jason Goudie, who has been in the job since 2017.
WATCH| 'We think the problem goes deeper': Union says CCSD CFO's departure is part of a 'systemic problem'
We're working to get more answers on where things stand and how the district got to this point, and there's still a lot of unanswered questions.
We want to break down what we do know.
Anchor Justin Hinton spoke with Goudie on the phone, and he said the idea that the district mismanaged funds is not accurate.
Justin: Why did you want to talk?
This is what Goudie had to say:
I think the misinformation about this being an error because that reflects badly on the district, reflects badly on the budget team and reflects badly on me, so I'm not willing to sit back and try and let misinformation get out there. I think that it's important for people to understand that the amount of analysis and the amount of work that goes into evaluating 2 years of payroll data at a district our size and trying to get out information to principals within a very short period of time due to a law that has a date that really has no bearing on anything – it is challenging.
Justin: Why do you feel like you were terminated if you've done everything correctly?
This is what Goudie had to say:
I don’t know, and I’m not willing to opine on things I don’t know because I don’t think that’s appropriate. I cannot opine on what the district leadership was thinking as to the reason, so I’m going to leave it at that, so I don’t know.
From his perspective, the potential deficit boils down to these three main issues:
- The tight timeline for the budget process
- The late negotiations surrounding teacher raises
- The superintendent transition, from Dr. Jesus Jara to Interim Superintendent Dr. Brenda Larsen-Mitchell
Goudie said he still doesn't know why he was fired, and if he could have done anything differently, he said better communication.
This is just one of the main issues the district now has to tackle.
The other two include finding a new superintendent and finding a trustee to replace Katie Williams.
Both of those issues are on the agenda for Thursday's school board meeting, and coming up on Good Morning Las Vegas on Tuesday, Hinton will have more from his talk with Goudie.
