Clark County school officials now estimate that the potential district-level budget shortfall due to unexpected expenses is about $11 million — $9 million less than they calculated last week.

That amount represents less than 1 percent of the district’s $4 billion budget, interim Superintendent Brenda Larsen-Mitchell said Thursday during a school board meeting. The district’s recently exposed budget problems have led to resignations and scrutiny at the highest levels of state government.

Officials said if the district were to close that gap in the district-level budget with some of the approximately $152 million in unassigned funds, the new ending fund balance would exceed 4 percent of general fund revenues, more than the target of 2 percent.

“I think we’re going to be in a great position at the end of all this,” said Chief Strategy Officer Kellie Kowal-Paul.

In addition to the district-level deficit, some individual schools experienced budget challenges due to errors that resulted in them receiving less money than they needed to cover significant salary increases for new teachers, as well as inaccuracies in the allocation of additional funding intended for students enrolled in were eligible. are ‘in danger’. Deputy Superintendent Melissa Gutierrez said schools experiencing significant difficulties in balancing their budgets could apply for and receive support from the district.

Thursday marked the first time the Clark County School Board and district leaders publicly discussed the district-level and individual-school budget issues that came to light last month and were identified during the regularly scheduled year-end accounting process. The news, which prompted the resignation of the district’s chief financial officer, prompted Republican Governor Joe Lombardo to call for state audits of the district’s potential budget deficit. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jhone Ebert also sent a letter to the district’s interim superintendent requesting more information about the situation.

In her response, Larsen-Mitchell attributed the district-level budget gap to unexpected expenses for litigation and cybersecurity.

On Thursday, Larsen-Mitchell told the school board that the district had budgeted $30 million for lawsuits, but the actual costs were about $23 million higher. She said the cybersecurity cost was about $15 million. She could not immediately answer how much the district had budgeted for its cybersecurity needs.

Some schools have cut staff and programming in response to school-level budget challenges, or have had to cover their shortfalls with unspent funds from previous school years.

CCSD schools have a total of $363 million in unused funds due in part to vacancies. The unused amount they can keep in reserve per school and spend in future school years may vary.

“There were obviously some schools that didn’t have a lot of money, but there were also schools that had a lot of money,” said Trustee Lola Brooks, who is not running for re-election. “I think it is very important that people understand that this is the purpose of the transferred funds. If you run into financial problems, you have to be able to deal with them.”

A proposal for a $50,000 review of the district’s financial operations by the Council of Great City Schools, a coalition of large school districts of which CCSD is a part, failed in a 3-3 vote with board chair Evelyn Garcia Morales and vice President Irene Bustamante Adams and Brooks are in favor of the revision and Trustees Linda Cavazos, Brenda Zamora and Lisa Guzman are against it.

Trustee Katie Williams’ resignation in September — after an investigation revealed she no longer lived in the district she was elected to serve — left the board with an even number of members.

Some community members, including Vicki Kreidel, the leader of the local teachers union, opposed the review, citing potential conflicts of interest, and opposed spending additional money on an audit while the district is facing a budget deficit and schools are facing budget cuts.

Larsen-Mitchell and former Superintendent Jesus Jara have undergone board leadership training and have served as advisors to the school board.

Brooks and Bustamante Adams said they welcomed the council as they looked under the hood of the district. Brooks added that it is unlikely the district will be able to find another supplier with the municipality’s level of expertise and price.

A second proposal, to reallocate funds previously allocated to the council to conduct the review, failed on a 3-3 vote.

This story was updated on 10/24/10 at 11:40 PM to update the estimated amount of the budget deficit.