School officials outline budget cuts

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Thursday, May 2, 2002 | 10:55 a.m.

School cuts

The Clark County School District is considering cutting more than $12.6 million from its 2002-2003 budget. The cuts include:

Class sizes for third graders in Clark County will likely jump from 19 to 22 students with the start of the new school year in August -- just one of the ways school district officials plan to save more than $12.6 million and balance a $1.2 billion budget.

In addition to the class size increase, Clark County School District trustees are considering eliminating middle school athletics programs, consolidating the alternative education programs and providing transportation to fewer high school students. The proposed cuts were presented to the board at a special meeting Wednesday and are slated for a final vote May 15.

While the student population has soared to nearly a quarter of a million,the district's revenues and funding sources continue to shrink, said School Board President Sheila Moulton. The district has already cut nearly $80 million from its budget over the past two years, and even that wasn't enough, Moulton said.

"We wish we didn't have to do this, and we know that people will feel the pinch of some of these cuts," said Clark County schools Superintendent Carlos Garcia. "Cutting services and programs is not something we like to do. ... We have tried to make decisions that will have the least impact on our children."

"I just dread the thought of what we're going to cut next," Garcia said.

Nevada ranks 40th in the nation in education spending, with Clark County schools getting $4,857 per pupil. Garcia, along with superintendents from the 17 other school districts in Nevada, plan to petition the upcoming Legislature for a $1,000 per-pupil increase, which would bring the Silver State up to the national average.

Clark County's budget is stretched further as Clark County continues to grow and the district opens between 12 and 16 new school each year.

The district is also now in arbitration with the Clark County Education Association over a new contract for its 14,000 teachers. If the teachers win a significant pay increase, more budget cuts or another class size increase could lay ahead, Garcia said.

Many Clark County schools already exceed district-set limits on class size. Gloria Homol, who teaches third grade at Gordon McCaw Elementary School in Henderson, said she currently has 21 students and at times has taught as many as 38. Raising the class size from 19 to 22 students will likely affect the quality of instruction for some of the children, Homol said.

"Whatever limit the district sets, I can usually bet on getting anywhere from three to five students over that," Homol said. "Each extra child means more work grading papers, less time for individual students and fewer opportunities for group projects."

In addition to the coming fiscal year's budget cuts, district officials are proposing other cost-saving measures, including building two professional development centers instead of continuing to pay rent for smaller sites throughout the district.

The facilities division also wants to purchase the now-closed Kidd marshmallow factory at Interstate 215 and Boulder Highway in Henderson and convert it into a regional service center. Too much time and money is wasted ferrying workers from Las Vegas to jobs at schools in the southeast region, said Dale Scheideman, director of the district's engineering and planning department.

Buying and converting the factory, at a cost of about $9 million, could save the district as much as $20 million over the next 10 years, Scheideman said.