LAS VEGAS – Since the start of negotiations, the Clark County School District (CCSD) has committed to using all available funding via Senate Bill 231 for its intended purposes–to pay our educators and staff above and beyond the agreements negotiated this year.
CCSD, the Education Support Employees Association (ESEA, and Teamsters Local 14) agreed to negotiate the SB 231 funds once the NDE, LCB, and IFC provide information related to the bill. CCSD and ESEA understand the funding sunsets and have agreed to have a sunset clause in the agreement as of June 30, 2025.
CCSD offered to use 66 percent of the District’s SB 231 funds for licensed professionals’ salaries. Based on CCSD’s staffing counts and the $250 million allocated by SB 231, we anticipate CCSD’s funding in the $170 – $180 million range, subject to review and approval by the legislative Interim Finance Committee.
SB 231 allocated $250 million statewide to support pay increases for licensed employees and support professionals working in Nevada schools, with any unused funding reverting to the State General Fund on June 30, 2025.
CCSD can only spend funds it is appropriated, and then, only according to the law as written. The state is still determining the allocations to school districts from the proceeds of SB 231, and school districts do not know what their portion will be at this time.
Additionally, CCSD communicated to the Legislative Counsel Bureau regarding the eligibility for SB 231’s salary increase. We are thrilled that their clarifying response aligned with our interpretation that the broadest possible eligibility should apply to teacher and support staff employees when negotiating these funds.
The District maintains that any use of the funds must include a sunset clause that matches the sunset clause of June 30, 2025, in SB 231, like the Carson City School District and other Districts across the state. Unlike funding for the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan, there is no statutory assurance that SB 231 funds will continue beyond June 30, 2025, by the Nevada Legislature. Their language clearly states the date by which those funds are no longer available.
Should future lawmakers decide to continue funding education-related staff in this manner in the next session, that will be their choice. Still, CCSD will not jeopardize its finances based on the expressed hopes of CCEA and the legislators who wish it were so.
Nobody intended the funding cuts following the 2008 recession or the economic uncertainty of the pandemic. While some lawmakers are urging the District to negotiate on their intentions, CCSD must base its commitments on the reality of the law as written.
