LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Gov. Joe Lombardo is seeking accountability around recent budget issues in the Clark County School District that have already led to the termination of the district's chief financial officer and cuts at individual schools.
As Channel 13 has reported, news of a "budget crisis" broke last week when the district announced the sudden departure of its CFO, Jason Goudie.
The issue stems from a failure to account for a second year of teacher salary increases as agreed upon in contracts CCSD and the Clark County Education Association — the union representing teachers — approved in December. That's according to CCEA executive director John Vellardita, who says he asked the governor to get involved in an effort to ensure the district does everything in its power to minimize the impact to individual schools, teachers, and students.
WATCH: 13 chief investigator Darcy Spears breaks down what we know about how CCSD's budget problem happened:
On Friday morning, Lombardo sent a letter to State Sen. Nicole Cannizzaro, Nevada's Senate majority leader, asking for an audit of the district's budget.
"We are concerned with reports that CCSD's current budget issues will potentially result in the release or elimination of teachers and other staff positions," Lombardo wrote. "Given last session's unprecedented increase in funding for education, such a scenario would be unacceptable."
Final Legislative Commission Letter 9.27.24 by aroberts.news on Scribd
The impact of the budget shortfall has already been felt at the school level, with support staff at several schools reaching out to Channel 13 to report their positions had been cut. One aide told us she was given the option to move to a different school 30 minutes away when her position at Sheila Tarr Academy was cut. Parents at another elementary school shared with us a text message informing them second-grade students would no longer be given printed homework in an effort to conserve supplies.
In an email to school staff last week, which was shared with Channel 13, interim Superintendent Dr. Brenda Larsen-Mitchell wrote that "we will make every attempt to absorb any confirmed deficit centrally with minimal impact to students and staff."
CCSD_Budget Guidance and Ms... by aroberts.news
In his letter, Lombardo asked that the scope of an ongoing audit be amended to include an investigation of CCSD's potential budget shortfalls. He wants the audit to consider these factors:
- the processes in which CCSD allocates funding to individual schools;
- what happened with the process to cause the current issues;
- what actions CCSD can undertake to avoid similar circumstances in the future;
- and what, if anything, should the Legislature and the Executive Branch consider to prevent this from happening in the future.
"CCSD has financial obligations to its local school precincts and restrictions on its budget that are unique amongst Nevada school districts," the governor wrote.
