CCSD Superintendent Skorkowsky to retire in June

By Chris Kudialis

Published Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017 | 10:30 a.m.

Updated Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017 | 3:22 p.m.

Clark County School District Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky announced this morning he will retire in June, ending a 30-year career in which he rose from the classroom to the district’s top position.

Skorkowsky laid out his plans during a tumultuous time for the nation’s fifth-largest school district. CCSD is undergoing a massive structural reorganization prescribed two years ago by state legislators while also facing a budget deficit of up to $60 million that likely will force layoffs.

In prepared remarks this morning at Walter Bracken STEAM Academy, Skorkowsky pre-emptively struck at any suggestion he was forced out.

“I am not resigning. I am announcing my retirement. I am leaving on my terms. This decision is mine and mine alone,” Skorkowsky said.

He received strong criticism in recent weeks from union leaders and state education brass for the district’s budget crisis, which CCSD officials blame in large part on reduced state funding and declining tax revenues. Skorkowsky fought back at suggestions that he exacerbated the district’s budget problems.

“Unfortunately, some vocal critics of mine have made our current budget situation into a referendum on my leadership,” Skorkowsky said. “That is not the case. This decision allows me greater freedom to deal with those attacks and address the real issues — and you can be guaranteed that I will.”

The real issues, Skorkowsky said, run much deeper.

“Resting the fault of this budget shortfall entirely on me misses the real culprits: a chronic underfunding of the base funding formula, the outdated Nevada Plan for funding education in Nevada, unfunded mandates from the government and a broken collective bargaining system,” Skorkowsky said.

The district’s graduation rate increased to 74.2 percent in 2016 from 72.1 percent in 2015 and 70.9 percent in 2014. Skorkowsky set a district goal of an 82 percent graduation rate for seniors in 2019.

CCSD’s Board of Trustees will begin a national search for Skorkowsky’s replacement. He succeeded Dwight Jones in June 2013, months after Jones abruptly resigned his position to deal with his mother’s failing health. Skorkowsky’s run in CCSD’s highest executive job will conclude at almost exactly five years, making him the longest-tenured superintendent since Carlos Garcia, who stepped down in 2005.

Skorkowsky’s career in Las Vegas started shortly after he graduated from Oklahoma State University in his native state. His first job was as a first-grade teacher at C.C. Ronnow Elementary in 1988, and he later earned a master’s degree in educational leadership. From there he moved up the ranks methodically, advancing to assistant principal, principal, academic manager and deputy superintendent before his appointment as superintendent.

By waiting until he reaches 30 years with the district in June 2018, Skorkowsky will qualify for the maximum allowable pension under Nevada’s Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS). He earns an annual salary of $260,000.

Five of seven School Board members — President Deanna Wright, Vice President Linda Young, Clerk Carolyn Edwards, as well as Linda Cavazos and Lola Brooks — stood by Skorkowsky today during a 25-minute retirement speech at Walter Bracken Elementary School.

Notably missing were two of his biggest critics, board members Kevin Child and Chris Garvey, whom Skorkowsky said were not invited to the event.

“I think it was important that I have my mentors and my people here,” he said. “These are ladies that I’ve grown to trust and love and support.”

Wright said the next superintendent must have a diverse educational background and be “dynamic, forward-thinking and a good communicator.”

Above all, the next superintendent must “love kids,” she said. “You just can’t have somebody that’s in it for the money, and you can’t have somebody that’s in it for the next thing on their resume.”

Board members at today’s event said Skorkowsky informed them Wednesday of his decision. His retirement was not a forced move by the School Board, Wright said.

While Skorkowsky was generally lauded today, board members acknowledged some shortcomings. Young said Skorkowsky and the School Board should have fought harder to balance the School District budget.

“I don’t think, as a district, we understood the dynamics of the cost of employees,” Young said. “I think the superintendent was a generous person and just didn’t want to hurt anybody.”

“We have not funded education appropriately,” she added.

Skorkowsky’s announcement comes as the district faces an estimated $60 million deficit that has drawn a firestorm of criticism from some education associations and unions, which argue the budget was not properly managed under his direction.

In an Aug. 30 memo, Skorkowsky announced a hiring freeze and proposed up to $80 million in spending cuts, starting in October.

Such reductions will protect the district from “unknown challenges,” Skorkowsky said, helping alleviate shortages caused in part by a $135.5 million expenditure to raise the minimum teacher base salary from $34,637 to $40,900 starting in the 2015-2016 school year and the maximum salary from $72,331 to $90,877.

Pay for 1,300 administrators was also bumped up after an arbitrator on May 31 ordered the district to pay $19.5 million in salary increases and benefits for deans, principals and assistant principals.

The School Board voted on Aug. 24 to cut more than $43 million from the budget and warned that more reductions would be coming this year by leaving vacant hundreds of teaching and support staff positions.

Young said pay for the district’s 40,000 employees accounts for about 88 percent of the annual budget.

Stephen Augspurger, the executive director of the Clark County Association of School Administrators and Professional-Technical Employees, and John Vellardita, the executive director of the Clark County Education Association, both said Skorkowsky’s retirement was “long overdue” and accused the departing superintendent of mismanaging the district’s budget.

The union leaders also balked at Skorkowsky’s plan to remain on the job for 10 months until his retirement. They argued the district should replace Skorkowsky with an interim superintendent from within the district while conducting a national search for a permanent replacement.

“You have to live within your means, and that’s something he did not do,” Augspurger said. “We’ve gone as far as opening new schools not knowing we had a budget deficit, and it has affected countless new employees who moved here with hopes of a new life with the district only to learn that there may soon be a reduction in force.”

Vellardita said Skorkowsky “should have known what the financial condition was of the school district. It’s not fair to anyone involved, and it’s time for a fresh start.”

While Skorkowsky was emphatic that he would not be a lame duck for the remaining months before his retirement, union chiefs were less optimistic.

“Lame ducks never have and never will work,” Vellardita said.

Nevada State Superintendent Steve Canavero struck a different tone than the union leaders, saying Skorkowsky’s leadership on the “long road” to balancing the CCSD budget and preparing the district for reorganization would be “missed.”

“His gains in the Advanced Placement and magnet programs have been recognized nationally,” Canavero added. “Really, there’s never a perfect time for a superintendent in a district that large to leave.”