CCSD on track for fifth consecutive yearly enrollment drop

The Clark County School District has more students this fall than projected but appears to be on track for its fifth consecutive yearly enrollment drop.

The district’s Attendance Zone Advisory Commission heard an enrollment report Tuesday but took no action.

The nation’s fifth-largest school district had 303,061 students, as of Sept. 1. Over the summer, it was projecting 299,038 for this fall, according to a July presentation to the Nevada State Board of Education.

Each year, enrollment from Oct. 1 — or the following Monday, if it falls on a weekend — is reported to the Nevada Department of Education.

Last year, the district had 304,782 students on Oct. 1, which is known as “validation day” or “count day.” That is 1,721 more students compared with Sept. 1 this year.

It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, though. That’s because enrollment numbers for this fall’s count day aren’t yet available. A response to a Review-Journal public records request shows the status is “pending.”

The district didn’t provide a comment on enrollment numbers by deadline Tuesday.

During Tuesday’s commission meeting, Tracy Murphy — the district’s director of demographics, zoning and GIS — explained the information included in the enrollment report but didn’t provide further comment, and commission members didn’t discuss it.

The commission also received information about school capacity.

Overcrowded schools — those at 125 percent of capacity or higher — include Bowler Elementary School in Logandale, Gilbert Academy of Creative Arts in North Las Vegas, Indian Springs Elementary School, Piggott Academy of International Studies, Thiriot Elementary School, Vassiliadis Elementary School, Arbor View High School, Basic Academy of International Studies in Henderson, Coronado High School in Henderson, Desert Oasis High School, Desert Pines High School, Liberty High School in Henderson, Rancho High School and Shadow Ridge High School.

Historically, the school district’s enrollment surged from 2000 to 2017, when it gained more than 90,500 students.

The district had 321,648 students during its peak enrollment in 2017. But it then lost nearly 17,000 students by fall 2021.

A large drop of more than 13,000 students occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic when some families sought other educational options such as private schools and home schooling while distance learning was underway.

Displacing teachers and staff

Each fall, a handful of licensed and support employees are reassigned primarily based on student enrollment numbers — a process known as “surplus.”

If a school has fewer students than projected, employees with the least seniority may be involuntarily transferred to another site for the rest of the school year, unless someone else volunteers.

It means some schools gain employees, while others lose them.

Employees who are displaced can choose from hundreds of vacant positions for which they’re qualified and eligible — a process that occurs during district surplus meetings.

The surplus meeting took place Oct. 5 for licensed employees, and 71 teachers were affected, according to information provided by the school district.

The meeting for support professionals is on Wednesday with 16 employees scheduled to participate.

Support professionals in the surplus process will be able to choose from more than 800 vacant positions, according to the Education Support Employees Association union.

And for licensed positions, 993 openings were listed on the district’s website as of Tuesday.

Some opponents have voiced concerns about the surplus process, saying it’s harmful for employee morale and disruptive for students who lose a teacher because they’re shifted to a different classroom and class sizes increase as a result.

Surplus numbers have varied from year-to-year. In fall 2020, 65 licensed professionals were facing surplus, 122 in fall 2017 and 98 in fall 2016.

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton on Twitter.