Sandoval’s increase in student spending would lift Nevada near national average

A 2.2 percent increase in per-pupil spending would be the largest in four years and put Nevada in line with the national average.

Gov. Brian Sandoval’s budget would increase the average student spending for fiscal year 2018 by $126 — from $5,774 to $5,900 per student.

That marks the largest jump since a 4.8 percent increase in 2014, according to state data. State superintendent Steve Canavero said the governor’s proposal showed an “ongoing commitment to providing additional funds.”

The proposed increase will likely rank near the national average, said Mike Griffith, a school finance strategic with the Education Commission of the States, a nonprofit that tracks and collects data on schools.

“It is an unusual year in the sense states are all over the map in the sense of school funding,” he said. “It does look like we’ll have a decent number of states that will be increasing their per pupil funding above the rate of inflation.”

Most states will either hit or slightly exceed a 2 percent increase, the standard year-to-year inflation rate, Griffith said.

In U.S. Census and National Education Association data that looks at overall per-pupil spending — combining federal, state and local money — Nevada still ranks in the bottom half nationwide, hovering around 35th, depending on the source, Griffith said.

Average spending nationwide in the 2013-14 year, the most recent census data available, was $11,009 per student. In Nevada, the spending was $8,414.

Andrew Feuling, the director of fiscal services for the Carson City School District, said an increase in per pupil spending suggests districts are beginning to benefit from a healthier state economy. Feuling said he’d like the state to continue investing in the per pupil funding and put less money into grants and restricted funds, like Zoom or Victory programs.

“We can do a lot of good things with that money, but it’s also cordoned off and it kind of reduces the flexibility,” he said.

Feuling uses the proposed budget numbers as a planning tool, but the continued push to establish a weighted-funding formula has made planning a guessing game until a formula is actually rolled out.

A weighted-funding formula would assign more per-pupil money for students with specific needs, including students of poverty, special education students, English language learners and gifted students.

“It’s a great idea but we have no idea what it’s going to look like,” Feuling said.

Clark County officials have also expressed concern over trying to implement the state-mandated district reorganization without clear weights.

“We’re always interested in the extra money,” Clark County School District interim chief financial officer Eva White. “It will be really good for us because these will be dollars we can use to supplement things we’ve wanted to do.”

Contact Meghin Delaney at 702-383-0281 or mdelaney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @MeghinDelaney on Twitter.