Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Balancing schools budget could up class size

Superintendent Carlos Garcia said cutting $74 million in two years from the Clark County School District's budget felt like "we ran out of checks in our checkbook."

"Now it feels like we're breaking the pen," Garcia told School Board trustees Thursday as he explained why another $10 million in cuts is needed to balance the district's $1.1 billion budget.

The proposed cuts are "upsetting," school district Chief Financial Officer Walter Rulffes told the board. Included in the plan are proposals to increase class sizes in the first through third grades, eliminate basketball teams for middle school students and cut high school bus service.

High school students living farther than 2 miles from school are currently eligible to take the bus. The new plan would extend that radius to 3 miles, saving the district about $1.3 million, Rulffes said.

To increase the class sizes, which could save as much as $2.8 million, the district would need to obtain a waiver from the state Department of Education, Rulffes said. A letter has already been sent to the state superintendent inquiring about the waiver process, Rulffes said.

Class sizes at the fourth and fifth grade levels are not at risk of increasing next year because of a one-time grant from the state, Garcia said. But high school classes have gone from 30 to 32 students in two years, and another increase is possible, Garcia said.

Over-crowded classrooms could risk a school's status with the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges and Universities, the state's accreditation organization. Five district high schools have already received warnings for exceeding the association's maximum teacher-to-student ratio, said Jack McLaughlin, state superintendent of public instruction.

Enrollment is up 36 percent in just five years, but there has been no matching increase in the district's funds, Rulffes said. The district has used up its $5.6 million budget stabilization fund, the $2.9 million environmental compliance fund and the $20.1 million capital replacement fund.

The state Legislature approved an $87 increase in per pupil funding for the coming school year, but that money will be needed to cover a scheduled, 2 percent pay hike for district employees, Rulffes said.

The cuts will be "painful," Rulffes conceded.

"But at this point, we don't have any good alternatives," Rulffes said.

Other proposed cuts include the elimination of 22 unfilled positions in the Student Services Division; the move would save about $1.3 million. The district's alternative schools, second only to special education in per pupil expenses, could be reorganized -- a $2 million savings -- and the district's support services and administrative staff could be reduced -- $2.3 million.

Garcia's recommendations drew mixed reviews from some, including John Jasonek, executive director of the Clark County Education Association. Jasonek praised Garcia for breaking the news to his staff during a closed meeting Wednesday.

"It was a smart move, instead of making people read about it in the papers," said Jasonek, whose group represents the district's 10,000 teachers.

But the budget cuts won't solve the district's serious underlying problems, Jasonek said.

"They keep putting Band-Aids on things that need a bigger fix," Jasonek said. "At some point, they're going to have to face that."

There is some good news in the glum financial picture, Garcia told the board. Just 10 states spend less per pupil than Nevada, but the district's test scores continue to be above the national average.

"That means we're doing more with less, and that's a credit to the entire district community," Garcia said.

The district's high school dropout rate has been steadily declining, along with the number of schools rated as low-performing by the state Department of Education, Garcia said. The district expects just four of its schools to be on the upcoming list, which is compiled using results from the national Terra Nova Basic Skills test given this past fall. There were 13 district schools on the list in 1996.

Schools that finish with 40 percent or more of its students in the bottom quarter of the national results are placed on the "needs improvement" list by the state. The four schools on the list are Kelly Elementary School, Lynch Elementary School, Tate Elementary School and Monaco Middle School.

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