Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Schools: Take back money, give us more

Normally, Clark County School District budget workshops focus on how to spend money from the state.

But School Board members also will be told today that about $15 million may have to be returned to the state.

The money reflects unspent state grants to improve education - and having to give some back creates a quandary for the School District: How does it not spend all its state money from previous years and still ask for more?

In 2005, then-Gov. Kenny Guinn set aside $100 million in grant money for school districts, with $22 million earmarked for full-day kindergarten. The remaining money was offered to individual schools and districts, with an appointed state commission reviewing applications and deciding allocations.

Clark County and its schools received $54 million over the biennium, with the dollars awarded for teacher training, new instructional programs and classroom initiatives.

But the district didn't spend it all. The grants created a problem for Superintendent Walt Rulffes: In some schools, teachers would have to be taken out of classrooms and assigned to the new programs. But with the district already short more than 400 classroom teachers, Rulffes decided the reassignments were a luxury schools couldn't afford.

As a result, "We have not been able to prudently use all of the (grant) funding, so it's better to return it to the state rather than use it for nonproductive purposes," Rulffes said Tuesday.

The amount of unspent grant money is about $15 million, said Jeff Weiler, chief financial officer for the district.

Clark County School Board member Terri Janison said although she agreed with Rulffes' decision to keep teachers in the classroom, she was dismayed that funds would be returned.

Janison said she hoped state lawmakers don't infer that there isn't a need for grant dollars in Clark County.

"That could be the message they hear, but I hope that's not the case," Janison said. "I've had principals and teachers talking about how incredible that money has been, and they're just praying to get it again next year. If the funding doesn't continue, those programs will go away."

The School Board will meet at 1 p.m. at the district's administrative building, 5100 W. Sahara Ave., to review the tentative operating budget for fiscal 2007-08. For the first time, the operating budget of the nation's fifth-largest school district is expected to top $2 billion.

Although there's no dollar figure attached to Rulffes' request, he will ask the School Board today to show its support for his empowerment schools initiative.

Four elementary schools are experimenting with empowerment, and each campus gets $600 more per student. Rulffes wants to double the number to eight campuses in the 2007-08 school year and is hunting for money in case Nevada's lawmakers do not approve an empowerment program.

Lawmakers are considering Gov. Jim Gibbons' empowerment proposal, which would give as many as 100 schools statewide more freedom over scheduling, hiring, instruction and budget matters. Campuses would get $550 extra per student for meeting stricter accountability measures.

Democrats have introduced their own empowerment initiative, which does not include extra money. In addition to asking the School Board to support the initiative, Rulffes is looking for help from outside Clark County. The Broad Foundation, a private nonprofit organization, has been asked to help with the tab, Rulffes said.

The tentative budget calls for $2.1 billion in spending in 2007-08, up from $1.9 billion in the previous year. But most of the largest appropriations, including the state's share of basic per- student support, won't be finalized until the end of the legislative session in June.

The governor's budget calls for $4,906 per student as the state's minimum guarantee, an increase of about 9 percent. Clark County typically receives less than the state minimum, after its share of property and sales tax revenue is deducted.

The district conservatively expects 314,403 students for 2007-08 , an increase of about 4 percent over this year's enrollment. The budget includes $28.7 million for a 2 percent cost-of-living adjustment for current employee salaries.

Other budget expenses include:

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