Amid potential $20M deficit, CCSD could add millions more in litigation costs
As the Clark County School District faces a potential $20 million deficit — a shortfall it has blamed, in part, on the cost of litigation — trustees will vote Thursday on whether to approve paying $3.5 million in another settlement.
The lawsuit will pay the victims of Jonathan Cronin, who was arrested in 2019 after CCSD Police received reports that Cronin had inappropriate contact with students at Sierra Vista High School.
According to his arrest report, Cronin is accused of touching male students’ genitals and buttocks over their clothing; showing male and female students photos of naked women; “twerking” on students; talking about sex with students; acting out “how to have sex;” taking his shirt off in class; asking a student to “dance like a male stripper” in class; and telling a female student she “could be a porn star.”
The millions of dollars in payout come at a turbulent time for CCSD’s budget. On Thursday, Interim Superintendent Brenda Larsen-Mitchell announced a potential $20 million budget deficit.
The district had told schools in September that it had detected a potential budget deficit, which resulted in principals around the district re-evaluating and adjusting their strategic budget plans — cutting staff, programming and supply funding.
In a Sept. 27 statement, the district blamed the potential deficit on unanticipated increased litigation and cybersecurity expenses.
The news came after the district had approved a record-breaking $3.4 billion budget last spring. On Sept. 27, Gov. Joe Lombardo asked the Legislative Commission to amend an audit of CCSD to include an investigation of its budget shortfalls.
Other litigation
The school district has been embattled with lawsuits in recent years.
In June, the district paid $9.95 million to a special needs student abused by his teacher at a Las Vegas elementary school.
The district spent nearly $46,000 on outside legal counsel in a lawsuit related to a February police altercation with students near Durango High School.
The district has several pending lawsuits as well.
On Sept. 28, families filed a class action lawsuit against CCSD for what they said was a failure to provide a proper education for students with disabilities.
In September, a mother filed a lawsuit for an incident in which she says a student took photos of her child’s genitals and shared them with other students. The complaint states that the law firm reserves the right to amend the complaint should they find out more information, given that several teachers also shared the photos with one another.
In August, a mother filed a lawsuit against the district and the family of a student she says physically and verbally assaulted her son on a school bus, causing brain injuries and emotional suffering.
The district plans to present an amended budget to the Clark County School Board on Dec. 12.
Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com.
