LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Clark County School District held its annual State of the Schools address Wednesday morning, hoping to move forward from major budget issues and litigation settlements.
Interim Superintendent Dr. Brenda Larsen-Mitchell was up front about how difficult it was to handle the budget problem.
“Budget and finance – this was a very humbling experience,” she said during her keynote address. “I had to dig in. I had to study. I had to learn.”
CCSD blamed the multi-million dollar deficit on unanticipated expenses, including more than 100 lawsuit settlements and beefing up security after a cyber hack.
Larsen-Mitchell talked about being in the room with people who knew a lot more about making a budget than she did.
“I said, ‘I wish I knew this as well as you do,’” she recalled. “‘I wish I knew budget and finance as well as you. I wish I could take everything you know and just dump it in my brain.’”
Larsen-Mitchell said their support was instrumental in getting out the new budget.
“I am pleased to share that we did release our Spring 2025 school budgets in alignment with NRS on time,” she said. “I’m grateful to the team. I’m grateful to the community for your patience with us.”
Aside from the budget, Larsen-Mitchell also touted a 3% year-over-year decrease in chronic absenteeism. She also noted more than half of schools in the district improved their academic standing with the State Board of Education and a 96% classroom fill rate with licensed educators.
“We do have some hard-to-fill areas such as special education and some of our support professional roles, so of course that will be a focus,” she said after the address.
There was no major update on the search for a new full-time superintendent.
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