Amid decline in enrollment, School Board revises final budget

The Clark County School Board on Thursday addressed the effects of lower than expected enrollment on the Clark County School District’s budget and a districtwide labor shortage during its last meeting of the year.

The meeting began with a school district 2025 year in review, where Superintendent Jhone Ebert and Board President Irene Bustamante Adams touted the district’s accomplishments.

From smooth negotiations to reach a new teacher’s union contract and recovering from a budget deficit to school campus renovations and improvements in student academic performance, Bustamante Adams said the current board has “moved this district forward.”

“You guys have been amazing,” Bustamante Adams told her fellow trustees. “We were handed a deck of cards, probably, that was really messy and you guys pulled through. We pulled through together.”

“I know that there’s a lot of room still left for improvement,” she continued. “I know that a lot of people may still point to things that have not been accomplished, but I just want to say that this team has been dedicated.”

Budget revisions

The board unanimously approved an amended final budget that accounts for having fewer enrolled students than the school district projected when the final budget was approved in May.

The revisions come as the school district faces a steep enrollment decline caused by declining birth rates and a rise in popularity of public education alternatives. Weighted enrollment, an enrollment measure that serves to calculate state funding, sits at 4,655 fewer than projected in May, according to the amended final budget. The state’s per-pupil funding model means that fewer students in the school district causes a decrease in district funding from the state.

Notably, the nearly $4 billion general fund will decrease by about $47 million, the $228 million at-risk weighted fund will decrease by about $50 million and the $220 million English-learner weighted fund will decrease by nearly $7.5 million.

However, the $726 million special education weighted fund will increase by about $21 million, and the nearly $20 million gifted and talented weighted fund will increase by more than $686,000.

During questioning, School Board members were largely accepting of the proposed amended budget, presented by Chief Financial Officer Justin Dayhoff and Deputy Chief Financial Officer Diane Bartholomew. The revised budget will take effect through June 30.

Critical labor shortage redeclared

School Board members voted unanimously to reextend a critical labor shortage designation for a wide range of school district job positions through June 30, 2028. The item was included in the meeting’s consent agenda.

The designation will allow the school district to continue hiring retired employees to fill positions if no other well-qualified candidates are available, a district spokesperson wrote in an email. Past critical labor shortages have been successful in filling vacancies with retired employees, chief human resources officer RoAnn Triana and assistant human resources officer Stacy Smith told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The school district will declare a critical labor shortage for a position if it has a turnover rate of five percent or greater, a vacancy rate of 12 percent or greater and if the length of time the position has been vacant has been 12 weeks or more, according to the agenda item.

The school district has 211 vacant classroom positions as of Dec. 3, a district spokesperson wrote in an email.

Positions that can be deemed as having a critical labor shortage beginning July 1, 2026, include:

— Teachers in English language arts, math, science, social studies, world languages, performing arts, fine arts, physical education, health, dance, secondary computers, driver’s education and ROTC

— Elementary teachers pre-K through 5th grade

— Substitute teachers

— Librarians

— Special education instructors

— English as a second language instructors

— Career and technical education / business and industry instructors

— Bus drivers

— Business and finance managers

— Landscapers

— Skilled trades workers

— Paraprofessionals

The Review-Journal previously reported that the school district has declared a critical labor shortage nearly every year since at least 2019. The last critical labor shortage declaration, approved in April 2024, is currently in effect, a school district spokesperson said.

Contact Spencer Levering at slevering@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0253.