Lombardo approves emergency funding for districts struggling with enrollment dips

The order comes as Clark County schools announced it needs to cut an additional $51.6 million.

By Rocío Hernández
The Nevada Independent

Gov. Joe Lombardo signed an emergency regulation Friday that will allow school districts losing funding because of enrollment declines to be funded at previous figures approved during the 2025 legislative session. 

“With school districts facing budget pressures that threatened dedicated teachers, staff, and student learning, we needed to take immediate action,” Lombardo said in the statement. “This emergency regulation keeps teachers in classrooms and gives school districts the stability they need to continue to serve our students.” 

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Victor Wakefield said in the same statement that this action will buy the state time to come up with a long-term solution for the funding issue. 

The order comes 10 days after the state’s largest school district, Clark County, announced it needed to cut an additional $51.6 million in the middle of the school year to account for higher than projected student enrollment declines and higher than anticipated employee compensation costs. 

Of that amount, $29.1 million would have to be cut from school budgets, and another $22.5 million will be cut from the district’s central office.

The district is down more than 10,000 students compared to the previous year. The steep enrollment decline amounted to more than $100 million in reduced state funding. It previously reduced its budget by $50 million in anticipation of lower enrollment. 

John Vellardita, the executive director of the Clark County Education Association, said in a Tuesday press release this action will prevent layoffs at the Clark County School District. 

The teacher’s union has endorsed Lombardo, a Republican, in the gubernatorial race against Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat. 

Clark County Superintendent Jhone Ebert said in a separate statement that the district had been preparing to enter into a surplus process due to the loss of positions for an estimated 360 licensed professionals, 190 support professionals and 27 administrators.  A surplus can occur when schools budgeted for more staff than they have students after enrollment comes out lower than initially projected. Employees who are surplused would then be allowed to move to another open position, potentially at another school, that they are qualified for. 

While some employees might still move work locations due to enrollment shifts, which is a typical process for this time of year, Ebert said she is now confident there is no need to eliminate positions this school year.

The Nevada Independent is a 501(c)3 nonprofit news organization. We are committed to transparency and disclose all our donors. The following people or entities mentioned in this article are financial supporters of our work:

• Joe Lombardo – $2,685
• Jhone Ebert – $1,980
• Victor Wakefield – $304