CCSD approves $4B budget for 2026 amid fiscal uncertainties

The Clark County School Board on Monday unanimously approved a nearly $4 billion budget for fiscal year 2026.

At a special meeting, Interim Chief Financial Officer Diane Bartholomew and Chief Strategy Officer Kellie Kowal-Paul gave a presentation to the board on its projected final budget.

The school district will submit its final budget on June 9 and an amended final budget by Dec. 31, according to the presentation.

The general fund sits just under $4 billion. The special education fund is just under $727 million; English learner-weighted funding is $220 million; weighted funding for gifted and talented students is just under $20 million; and at-risk weighted funding is $228 million.

The unanimous vote came after what was a contentious fall for the school district’s budget. In September, CCSD fired former Chief Financial Officer Jason Goudie after announcing a potential budget deficit as well as miscalculations that forced principals to make cuts to staff and programming.

On Monday, Bartholomew and Kowal-Paul emphasized that the budget is still a projection and that there are still future uncertainties, especially as it pertains to funding from the state as well as the federal government.

State, federal politics affect CCSD

Eighty percent of CCSD’s general fund balance comes from state sources, according to the presentation. With the Nevada Legislature in session, it remains unclear how much funding the school district will get from the state.

Trustee Emily Stevens asked if there is a “buffer” in case the state provides less money than the school district expects.

Bartholomew said the school district budgets conservatively in preparation.

Several trustees also asked about federal funding. Trustee Brenda Zamora asked specifically about Vegas PBS, which falls under CCSD but has faced funding threats from the Trump Administration.

“None of that has trickled down to us at this point,” Kowal-Paul said. “As far as we’re concerned, for budgeting, it is still noise, and we’ve not yet received any direct impact to federal dollars.”

Last year’s budget woes

Several trustees also made reference to what many people at the time referred to as a “budget crisis” in the fall of 2024.

In the fall, CCSD initially estimated a potential deficit of $20 million before lowering it to $10 million. It ultimately ended the fiscal year with no deficit after it made up for it by using money from its ending fund balance.

“At no time were we in a deficit,” Bartholomew said Monday. “At the time that some of that communication went out, we were closing out our books from the prior year. We were making adjustments for school budgets. You know, it’s always a give and take until we get the final.”

At the time, there was disagreement among trustees about whether the budget was a “crisis” or if the numbers were not that large in a $4 billion budget.

On Monday, Trustee Tameka Henry, who was elected to the board afterward, wondered aloud — without asking for an answer — whether Goudie’s firing was premature.

But in addition to the initially projected deficit, there were also miscalculations that directly impacted schools. In January 2024, the projected budget failed to include the 8 percent raises it had agreed to in December with the Clark County Education Association teachers union, and used the incorrect formula for at-risk funding.

That error led schools to need to recalculate their budgets in September, and many principals were forced to make cuts to staff and programming.

Trustee Ramona Esparza-Stoffregan said Monday that trustees had received extra training on budgets and were better prepared to review the budget this time around.

“It was more time from all of us, but well spent because of the fact that we are trying to grapple with these large numbers,” Esparza-Stoffregan said.