LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Clark County School District announced this week that nearly 1,200 employees could be surplused for the next school year due to rising costs and declining student enrollment numbers.
According to a memo sent to CCSD staff, roughly 682 licensed employees, 500 support professionals, and 64 administrators could be surplused next school year. However, there could be roughly 4,000 openings available, partially due to retiring staff and employees who are leaving the district.
WATCH| Jhovani Carrillo talks to an assistant principal who has been deemed as "surplus" by CCSD
Merrick Murray, an assistant principal at an elementary school in the district, is among those being surplused after spending nearly two decades in education.
"As someone who also looks at the budget, I understood it. I kind of saw it coming," Murray said.
Despite understanding the financial reasoning, Murray said leaving behind the relationships he's built isn't easy.
"I'm going to miss my little school," Murray said.
John Vellardita, executive director of the Clark County Education Association, explained the process surplused employees will go through to find new positions within the district.
"If they are licensed for a position that is open in a school and they have the seniority, they then are placed there," Vellardita said. "If there's two people competing for the same one and they are both licensed to be say that third-grade teacher, they will go by district seniority.
Vellardita says there are two factors driving the surplus of employees:
1) A decline of students in the schools.
- He says when there's a decline in students, campus revenues go down as well.
2.) Per pupil funding changes.
- He said that during the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers only passed a budget that increased the basic per-pupil funding level ( the amount of money each student gets) by $2.
"For next year, they increased it to $70 per student, which is only about $20 million, so there was less funding, particularly compared to 2023, right. So you take those two factors, the declining student enrollment, which reduces revenue, and then the base per pupil revenue level has not kept up with, say, inflation or the cost of things, etc.— that’s what’s driven this.”
He said there will be no changes to employee pay, with one exception.
"The exception is, we have a bill 398 that got passed last session that pays $5,000 more on the base pay for teachers that are in Title 1 schools that have high vacancies and special education educators, right. If you leave one of those Title 1 schools that have high vacancies, and you go to another school that doesn't qualify, that additional $5,000 doesn't follow you.
Vellardita expressed confidence that all surplus employees will find new positions within the district.
"We are very confident all of these people are going to be placed in a position," Vellardita said. "We don't see that happening at all."
While Vellardita acknowledged that surplus employees who can't be placed could potentially be let go, he doesn't expect that scenario to occur.
Murray remains optimistic about his future in education, despite not knowing which school he'll be assigned to next.
"I enjoy what I do, which is why I do it every day," Murray said. "Ready to get back there on the grind."
CCSD officials have also implemented a hiring freeze to prioritize employees currently in the surplus process.
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