District credits stimulus for jobs saved, created

The Clark County School District has saved or created 1,400 teaching and support staff jobs with federal stimulus funds, officials said Monday.

The district is the state's single largest recipient of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding, It was awarded $165.1 million as of last month and has 35 percent of Nevada's 4,000 education jobs that reportedly were saved through the stimulus.

The district, which serves more than 309,000 students, has a $2.19 billion operating budget this year. That is $11 million less than its operating budget for the previous year.

It made $120 million in program cuts this year to keep up with increasing expenses such as worker benefits and salary increases.

Because of the federal stimulus funds, Superintendent Walt Rulffes said the district is in relatively good shape this year and next school year. But he worries about what will happen when the stimulus funds are gone.

The district runs the risk of falling "off the funding cliff," Rulffes said.

Patrick Gibbons, an education consultant with the conservative Nevada Policy Research Institute who is a critic of the stimulus, thinks the number of saved jobs probably was "overstated."

Last spring, the district announced it was eliminating 854 employee positions to save money. The job cuts included 209 teaching positions and 592 support staff.

By September, all affected teachers and about half of the affected support staff were able to find other jobs within the district. Another 200 affected support staffers have gotten temporary jobs or "on-call assignments."

The district expects to receive $82.3 million in federal stabilization funds this school year. The funding is intended to offset declining state and local tax revenue.

The district will receive an additional $109 million for special education programs and Title I schools, which have large populations of children from low-income families.

Also, the district will issue $104 million in new bonds this year to be financed through the federal stimulus. The bonds will be used for school renovations.

Contact reporter James Haug at jhaug@reviewjournal.com or 702-374-7917.