Lombardo orders CCSD to take corrective action after budget shortfall

A newly appointed compliance monitor will provide oversight as CCSD implements a corrective action plan after months of budgetary turmoil.

After weeks of criticizing the Clark County School District for its budget shortfall, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, alongside the Nevada Department of Education, is requiring corrective action from CCSD and has appointed a compliance monitor to oversee the district’s efforts to solve its budget issues. 

CCSD found in September it had a potential budget deficit of $20 million, a number that was later amended to $10.9 million last month after an audit was conducted.

In response to questions from the Nevada Department of Education (NDE), CCSD said in a September letter that the budget issues were in part due to student enrollment changes and a failure to take into account teacher salary increases. 

That letter failed to persuade the NDE that the district had a handle on the problem. 

“After reviewing CCSD’s responses, NDE remains concerned about the District’s leadership, policies, and processes that prevented CCSD’s local school precincts from receiving timely and accurate funding information prior to the start of the 2024-25 school year,” Nevada Superintendent of Public Instruction Jhone Ebert said in a statement this week. 

In a letter to School Board president Evelyn Garcia Morales and Interim Superintendent Brenda Larsen-Mitchell, Ebert said that CCSD is now required to develop a corrective action plan to solve the budget issues and work together with the appointed compliance monitor to submit the plan to Ebert by Dec. 27 for approval. Assuming Ebert signs off on the plan, the district will then  begin implementing it on Jan. 9.  

Yolanda King of King Strategies LLC, who is also president of the Nevada Taxpayer Association and was formerly county manager for Clark County for 33 years, has been appointed as the compliance monitor to provide oversight, support, and assistance to CCSD as it develops the corrective action plan.

“To help CCSD meet compliance standards, we have appointed a Compliance Monitor to the district, and we will require CCSD to develop and implement processes to improve communication and transparency through a Corrective Action Plan,” said Lombardo in a statement. “As I’ve reiterated since taking office, unprecedented funding requires unprecedented accountability, and we will not accept a lack of accountability for our school district.” 

CCSD will be responsible for King’s compensation, which is $160 per hour, but to not exceed $60,000 in the contract.