The possibility of cuts to certain classified and certified staff positions including social workers assigned to area Carson City School District campuses will be among a number of items discussed Tuesday, when the Board of Trustees meet.
The school board meets Tuesday, 6 p.m. at the Robert Crowell Board Room inside the Carson City Community Center, 851 East William Street. The meeting begins at 6 p.m.
School board trustees may decide on plans to issue a notice of layoff due to reduction in force for certain classified and certified staff positions if necessary, including, without limitation social workers, teachers, Teachers on Special Assignment (TOSA), administrative assistants and Intervention Paraprofessionals, due to financial constraints. If approved, the Board may also authorize staff to pursue voluntary or directed transfers of staff to fill vacancies, as available.
According to the board’s executive summary, trustees have heard presentations at prior meetings about the budget for Fiscal Year 2027. As has been discussed, there are likely some adjustments to staffing levels that may need to be made to reduce expenditures to a more sustainable level.
Agenda item 13 would provide authority to the superintendent, if necessary, to give notice to staff if they will be impacted by these adjustments. With the goal of minimizing the impact as much as possible on staff and students, in the event that reductions are made, it also authorizes staff to fill existing vacancies with those impacted as appropriate, the executive summary states.
According to The Nevada Independent, superintendents across the state say flat K-12 education funding, increased costs that have chipped away at their reserves, declining student enrollment and policy changes under the state’s new funding formula have created a perfect storm for their budgets.
After the 2023 legislative session, the pressure was on for school districts to approve much-need raises for their staff. In addition to historic per-pupil funding increases passed during that session, the Legislature also approved a $250 million matching fund that districts could tap into to provide those pay bumps. Lawmakers renewed that funding during the 2025 session, but the base per-pupil funding amount is staying relatively flat for the next two years: $9,416 per student for 2025, a $2 increase, and $9,486 in 2026, a $70 increase.
Meanwhile, school districts across Nevada and nationwide are experiencing student enrollment declines amid lower birth rates and as students move to charter schools, private schools or even out of the area altogether because of factors such as housing costs.
State data shows enrollment statewide was on the rise until the 2019-20 school year, when it peaked at about 500,000 students. This school year, the state has about 474,000 public school students.
Shifting to a new funding formula
School leaders statewide say the new funding formula the Legislature approved in 2019 to replace the previous 50-year old model has also created challenges for their districts.
Prior to the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan (PCFP), the state used a single enrollment count day to determine a school district’s per-pupil funding base for the entire school year. But under the new formula, districts’ enrollment is looked at on a quarterly basis, which can result in funding fluctuations throughout the school year. One of the core principals of the PCFP is that dollars follow the students
According to The Nevada Independent, the state’s previous funding formula included a mechanism that partially protected school districts from per-pupil funding decreases through a one-year “hold harmless” provision that allowed them to be funded at the same enrollment level as the preceding school year unless the decrease is greater than 5 percent, in which case their funding could be based on the higher of the prior two years’ enrollment.
Other items on the agenda include:
— The board will interview and take possible action on the appointment of applicants to fill the Carson City School District Board of Trustees vacancy in District 5. As of the time of this writing, two people have stepped forward for possible appointment: Educational leadership professional Tina Statucki, who has served as program and curriculum developer and EDCT instructor at Western Nevada College since August 2022, managing director of Two Keys Consultants and Executive Director of the Nevada Association for Career and Technical Education.
Also stepping forward for appointment is Steven Reynolds, a previous Carson City School District Board of Trustee member from 2009 to 2016 and a 10-year board member and for many years, president of the Carson City School Foundation. Their resumes and applications can be found in the PDF below.
— Trustees will hear an update on the College Board Advanced Placement (AP) program at Carson High School. This is a discussion item only.
— Trustees will hear an information update o the Alternative Standards Program (ASP) in the Carson City School District. This is a discussion item only.
— Information update rom the Carson City School District Elementary Schools on programs, support for students and celebrations. This is a discussion item only.
— Discussion of proposed changes to the district’s recess policy. This is a first reading item only.
Public Comment, Where to Watch
Comments will be accepted in person, or through virtual participation via email; publiccomment@carson.k12.nv.us no later than 12:30 p.m. the day of the meeting. Email for public comment must include the submitting party’s full name. Email for public comment will be posted as a supplemental document and copies will be provided to the board members.
The meeting can be accessed at the website here and YouTube here. See the full board agenda in the PDF below.
— The Nevada Independent contributed to this story.
