School District seeks study on actual cost of educating students

By Cy Ryan

Monday, March 14, 2011 | 10:39 a.m.

CARSON CITY – The Clark County School District is calling for a study on the true cost of educating various types of students, such as those who are disabled, students from poor families and gifted students.

"We’re not asking for additional money," district representative Joyce Haldeman said in testimony Monday before the Senate Finance Committee. "The time is right (for a study) because there is no money."

The present school funding plan is 44 years old and doesn’t reflect the realities of the present-day education system, she said.

For example, at the time the current school aid formula was adopted, 95 percent of the students in the district were white. Now, 42 percent are Hispanic, 32 percent are white, 12 percent are black and 7 percent are of Asian descent.

She said there are 145 languages spoken among students in the Clark County School District.

Haldeman testified in support of Senate Bill 11 to set up a two-year study to determine the true cost of education in the categories of students with disabilities, gifted and talented, enrolled in career and technical education, English-language learners, those eligible for free and reduced lunch, and those being educated through distance learning.

The study committee might look at longer school days or a longer year for the student. Some schools in Clark County have classes on Saturday now, she said.

Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, said there was a school funding adequacy study in 2007 and that might be a good starting point.

Cegavske also questioned whether redistributed money would get to students. She said Nevada lacks special education and science teachers, and it appears this is a pitch for pay raises for teachers.

Haldeman said the bill is "not talking about pay raises," but is about getting more teachers and aides into the classroom to provide additional instruction to students in these categories.

Committee Chairman Sen. Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, said the time was ripe to set the education policy for the next 10-20 years.

The committee didn't take action on the bill.