LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Clark County School District leaders presenting an amended 2025 budget Thursday night after their earlier projections were off by an estimated $10 million dollars. The district will dip into its reserves using $9.9 million dollars of unassigned funds.
“Principals should be able to predict their budget so we are building a new prototype that will have that transparency,” explained Dr. Brenda Larsen Mitchell, Interim Superintendent of CCSD. Dr. Larsen Mitchell assembled a team to do a deep dive into the district’s budget after a $10 million dollar shortfall was discovered months ago and CCSD’s Chief Financial Officer fired.
Though money given per student from the state and other sources is up in Nevada, it still lags behind other states according to Mitchell.
“We are approximately $4,000 dollars below the national average,” she shared.
Student enrollment in CCSD is down. Fewer students mean less money. Interest rate changes mean the district will not bring in as much money as projected to the tune of $26 million. There is also $34 million more in salary increases than project back in May and $64 million in supplies requested by schools.
To balance their budget, CCSD will use $9.9 million from unassigned ending funds, or the district’s reserves. One Trustee, Isaac Baron representing North Las Vegas, expressed concerns with the ramifications of that plan.
“Are we subject to a bond rating depreciation in this case,” Baron questioned.
“Yes, when we get rated it is our ending fund balance…My opinion, it would have a very slight impact,” replied Diane Bartholomew, Interim Chief Financial Officer of CCSD.
The governor has appointed a state monitor to comb through the district’s finances. The contract with that new compliance monitor was approved Thursday night. The interim superintendent said they have an office ready and waiting for her. The district is required to submit a corrective action plan to the state by December 27th.
Thursday night was the last school board meeting of the year for CCSD. It was also the last meeting for three of the trustees including the board president who lost her re-election bid. There will be four new trustees sworn in next month.
Copyright 2024 KVVU. All rights reserved.
