LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — The Clark County School District is facing a potential budget shortfall and other budget miscalculations that have led to the firing of teachers from Valley schools and the elimination of programs, all of which impacts our students.

During Thursday night’s school board meeting, CCSD’s interim superintendent announced that a $20 million central budget deficit has now been reduced to nearly $11 million.

Some administrators argued the number was minimal compared to the district’s $4 billion budget.

But those who see major impacts in schools say otherwise, and they don’t think the district shares the full scope of the situation.

‘I still don’t understand how this happened. Where did this happen?’ said Marie Neisess, president of the Clark County Education Association.

This was the first public discussion of ongoing budget issues facing the district since Crisis in the Classroom broke the story three weeks ago.

CFO Jason Goudie was fired just days later, but it is still unclear whether this was budget related.

But even with a presentation, some say there are now more questions than answers.

“When you say, we didn’t know the actual amount,” Neisess said. ‘We didn’t know this. We didn’t know that. Who didn’t know that?’

Larsen-Mitchell analyzed two budget issues, one at the central level and one at the school level.

Two problems were mentioned for the district’s central budget: the millions of euros in higher cybersecurity and legal costs.

As for strategic budgets for schools, the district says an eight percent salary increase for teachers was not reflected in the spring budgets.

They also said inaccurate data was used for risk funding for schools.

‘The CFO was also a member of the committee that changed the situation from risk scores to final scores. So what happened?’ Neises said. “How could he not know when he presented the budget that this was the change?”

Due to the changes in the school budget, some campuses have had to make cuts in staff and programs.

“Having a surplus, especially as an educator, is incredibly stressful,” said Vicki Kreidel, president of the National Education Association of Southern Nevada. “You’re told you can’t continue working in the building you’ve been in. And for some people, they’re choosing schools, they’re applying to schools that are close to their homes. Now everything is up in the air.”

“It’s a crisis when you tell teachers with after-school tutoring programs that they’re trying to get their rating up from a one-star school,” Neisess says.

During Thursday’s meeting, there were questions about when the district learned of the budget issues.

“We knew in the spring because of the salary increases our employees were earning that we would be cash-strapped, including unexpected expenses such as lawsuits and cybersecurity costs,” Larsen-Mitchell said.

But curator Isaac Barron wondered what safeguards were in place when red flags appeared.

“I recognize your concern, I understand your concern, Trustee Barron, and we have to do better,” said Dr. Larsen-Mitchell. “We have identified the root causes of the lack of sufficient processes, documentation, communication and protocols.”

Barron believes the timing doesn’t make sense.

“The deal with the teachers union, which is what that all boiled down to, ended in December and January, when the budget process started,” he said. “So I thought there was enough time to compensate for some things.”

Barron hopes to get clarity at the next board meeting.

“What’s going to happen so that it doesn’t happen again, and we’re going to have other questions about the extent to which this is going to happen, for example, and what impact this is going to have on our Title One schools,” he said.

There will be another budget discussion at the Oct. 24 board meeting, where Barron hopes to get more answers.

One thing we mentioned Thursday evening is that steps are being taken for future budgets, including meeting with principals when they release spring allocations and giving them access to their budgets to see if there are any errors or changes that must be applied on time. .