Student enrollment falls short of estimate

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Friday, Sept. 27, 2002 | 11:08 a.m.

Clark County school administrators overestimated the number of students who would enroll this fall by 3,830, leaving the district with a $2.7 million budget shortfall, officials announced Thursday.

District officials said that while no teacher positions would need to be eliminated, it was possible student programs would be cut to make up the deficit.

The student enrollment, based on attendance last Friday, came to 254,912 pupils -- an increase of 4.2 percent from the 2001-02 number. This is the first time in nine years that the Clark County School District's growth has fallen below about 6 percent, said Superintendent Carlos Garcia.

As for which programs could be on the chopping block, Garcia said "everything will be looked at." However, teachers have already been hired for arts and music classes, so those programs are unlikely to be hit, he said. The School Board has already cut more than $80 million of its $1.2 billion annual budget in the past three years, including eliminating middle school athletics and reducing transportation services for high schools.

"I think we'll make it through this year, then we'll really have to lobby the Legislature for help," Garcia said.

The under-enrollment is partly a result of the effect Sept. 11 had on the local economy, Garcia said. The loss of jobs sent some residents back to other states while fewer people relocated to the Las Vegas Valley, Garcia said.

The district gets $3,819 for each student, based on the "Count Day" tally. The lower enrollment means $14.6 million fewer dollars, said Walt Rulffes, deputy superintendent of operations. All but $2.7 million of that shortfall has already been offset thanks to cautious hiring practices, Rulffes said.

"We're staffed at 98.5 percent, not 100 percent," Rulffes said. "We knew there was an economic indicator for a slowdown, so the School Board built-in some precautions."

Dusty Dickens, director of zoning and demographics for the district, warned against calling one year's enrollment numbers the start of a trend. The district's transiency rate hovers around 36 percent, which means students are continually moving in and out of the district throughout the academic year, Dickens said.

"We're viewing these numbers very cautiously, to see if this is a one-year phenomenon or not," Garcia said. "We're still growing at a phenomenal rate, even if we are under our estimate, and we're continuing to grow even as we sit here talking."

The enrollment numbers are also used to determine school staffing. Some teachers will be reassigned to new schools, and in some instances classes may be combined, district officials said.

The shuffling, while a source of aggravation to some parents and students, is "a fact of life in a boomtown," said School Board President Sheila Moulton.

"It's a frustration, one that I've been through personally many times," said Moulton, whose six children have all attended Clark County schools. "We're just asking the parents to be patient and work with us to ensure a smooth transition."

At Beatty Elementary School, one kindergarten teacher was moved to another school and her pupils absorbed into another class, said Principal Susan Leibowitz.

Salina Koch said she was dismayed to learn her daughter's kindergarten class at Beatty would go from 25 to 31 pupils today.

"Stability is so important at this age," Koch said. "There are two new apartment complexes going up next to the school, (so) you know the kids are going to come in this year. The district should have planned this better."

Leibowitz said Beatty's predictions for staffing were "extremely close" overall, and the kindergarten teacher transferred was the only change in staffing. It's not unusual for students to be moved between classrooms in the first month of school, Leibowitz said.

"The parents get more bonded to the teachers than the students do," Leibowitz. "At the kindergarten and first-grade level, the kids are very resilient. After a few days in the new classroom, they love that teacher, too."