CCSD troubles continue with $20 million budget shortfall, School Board issues

Between the pause in the search for a new superintendent, a School Board trustee resigning, and a potential budget deficit, CCSD can’t seem to catch a break.

The Clark County School District has been in the news for the last couple of months, between the pause in the search for a new superintendent, School Board trustees being under fire — including one resigning — and a potential budget deficit that puts staff at risk of layoffs.

The school district also announced a couple weeks ago that there was a potential budget deficit, pointing to student enrollment changes and a failure to take into account teacher salary increases for the shortfall. In a response letter sent to the Nevada Department of Education this week, CCSD said it estimates its current budget is $20 million short of what it needs to be to cover costs.

Some schools have already been asked to lay off staff or implement other cost-cutting measures like no longer printing out students’ homework. 

On the School Board side, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department recommended and requested an arrest warrant for former Trustee for District B, Katie Williams, on a charge of wrongful exercise of power. Williams resigned last month after an investigation showed that she was not living in her district and has been living in Nebraska since roughly April. 

Clark County District Attorney Steven Wolfson denied the request and that there will not be a prosecution against Williams. 

Trustee District B, which includes North Las Vegas, will remain vacant until the board appoints an interim trustee on Oct. 30, who would sit on the board for the remaining two months of the term until the newly elected trustee is sworn-in in January.