CLARK COUNTY ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS

AND PROFESSIONAL-TECHNICAL EMPLOYEES

4055 South Spencer St., Suite 230 Las Vegas, NV 89119

Stephen Augspurger, Executive Director

Office (702)796-9602 Fax 1-702-447-6886 Cell (702)279-0745
E-mail [email protected]

September 5, 2017

VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL

Dear Clark County School District Trustees:

This letter is written on behalf of the Clark County Association of School Administrators and Professional-
technical Employees (CCASAPE), and the CCASAPE Representative Council, composed of the elected
leaders of the organization. Clark County School District (CCSD) administrators, through their recognized
collective bargaining organization, feel it is imperative to express their very significant concerns with your
employee, Pat Skorkowsky, in his capacity as Superintendent of Schools.

The first and foremost concern is Superintendent Skorkowskys handling of the Districts budget.
The Superintendents financial decision-making reflects a repeated disregard for the guiding principles of
effective budget management and has resulted in a budget deficit approaching $80 million and growing.
This decision-making will now deprive many CCSD students of a quality education and many employees
of their livelihood. The deficit, and the manner in which it has been addressed, has resulted in a breach
of trust between your administrators and Superintendent Skorkowsky. With billions of dollars in general
fund revenue, a budget deficit of this magnitude only occurs as the result of long-term mismanagement
and misappropriation. A budget deficit of $80 million does not occur overnight, or even in two months,
as is the case being presented by the Superintendent. A fundamental principle of money management,
in budgets large and small, is the requirement to live within your means. The Superintendent has not
adhered to this important principle. Unlike previous CCSD financial woes which occurred during economic
downturns and recessions which impacted every sector of the state, this $80 million budget deficit has
occurred during robust economic times for both Clark County and the State of Nevada. Property tax
revenue is increasing, local school support tax collections are increasing, and the dollar amount per
student in the Distributive School Account (DSA) has increased by $126 per student over FY17, in spite
of the Superintendents assertion there is a DSA shortfall of $8.4 million.

The Tentative Budget approved by the Trustees on April 5, 2017, contained a projected FY18 beginning
fund balance of $97 million. On May 17, 2017, the Trustees approved the FY18 Final Budget containing
a beginning fund balance of $80 million, $17 million less than the previously approved Tentative Budget.
Interestingly, the Final Amended Budget for FY17, approved on December 8, 2016, contained a projected
ending fund balance of $43 million. So, the beginning fund balance for FY18 was $37 million more than
what was projected in December 2016.

Making the current budget deficit more disturbing and perplexing, on May 17, 2017, when the FY18 Final
Budget was approved, each of the Trustees, with the exception of recently selected Trustee Cavazos,
signed a budget document for submission to the state that contained general fund revenue that was $153
million higher than the same document signed in May 2016 for the FY17 General Fund Budget. When
new special education funding is considered, the FY18 amount increased by an additional $43.5 million
more than the same document signed in May 2016. Individual Trustee signatures indicate your collective
CCSD Board of School Trustees
September 5, 2017
Page 2

understanding of the nearly $195 million in increased revenue, yet on July 5, 2017, when it was first
revealed by Superintendent Skorkowsky in a public meeting that the District had a $34.5 million deficit,
not a single Trustee asked the most important question that could be asked, How is this possible?

At the July 5, 2017, School Board meeting, the Superintendent identified contributing factors to the deficit.
At this meeting, the Trustees learned for the first time that the Superintendent had reduced the ending
fund balance from 1.75% to 1.25% with no prior notice or approval from the Trustees. This incident alone,
should have been a red flag that your Superintendent was engaged in inappropriate decision-making and
financial mismanagement.

The budget deficit, while first reported on July 5, 2017, did not begin this past July. It appears that when
Trustees approved the Tentative and Final Budgets this past April and May, respectively, deficit spending
was already occurring but had not been reported. While unanticipated expenses occurred after the
approval of these two budgets, these events should have been anticipated and contingency plans put
into place. This did not occur, and it is likely that the current deficit stems from a long period of
mismanagement and misappropriation by the Superintendent, far greater than the unanticipated
expenses identified in the initial $34.5 million deficit reported by the Superintendent. We acknowledge
that Trustees may not have been aware of the breadth of the CCSD deficit. Nevertheless, you approved,
in good faith, the Tentative and Final Budget recommendations submitted by the Superintendent in April
and May, 2017.

The time for action by the Trustees is now, as you are ultimately the elected stewards of the Districts
financial resources. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Steve Canavero, recently pushed
back against the Superintendents claim that the CCSD had been shortchanged by the state. Your
employee, Mr. Skorkowsky, stated publically, in response to Dr. Canaveros push back statement, This
is not a time to assign blame. To the contrary, the Superintendent alone is responsible for every decision
which has led the District to this financial crisis. His failure to mind the financial store can only be
characterized as incompetence. A Trustee-driven investigation will answer the question, How did this
happen? and may reveal a chain of decision-making that borders on something far more serious. Either
way, the CCSD is in a financial crisis because of the incompetence of one individual, the Superintendent,
who will now attempt to fix the financial mess he created on the backs of all employees and to the
educational detriment of students.

The Trustees have a stewardship responsibility over District funds. Because of this unique role, hard
questions must be asked. What was the decision-making that led to the deficit? When did it begin?
Where was the gate-keeping function to ensure that District expenses did not become disconnected from
revenues? Who performed this function? If it was not performed, why? If it was performed, why didnt
the Superintendent heed the alarm most surely given? Perhaps the investigation will encourage someone
to come forward on their own to shed light and transparency on how this financial crisis developed and
over what period of time. Or, were these gate-keeper individuals coerced to remain silent? If so, by
whom? These are critical questions requiring answers if Trustees are to address this issue properly and
to restore the necessary trust with all constituent groups.

In addition to the budget deficit, the CCASAPE membership has additional concerns regarding
the performance of Superintendent Skorkowsky. The most pressing of these concerns include the
following:

1. The Superintendents mismanagement of general fund money will impede the full implementation
of Assembly Bill 469. This law requires that attrition dollars follow the student to the school. The
CCSD Board of School Trustees
September 5, 2017
Page 3

Superintendent has ignored this requirement in the law with no changes being made to the
Districts budget development process. The $65.5 million identified in the Districts FY18 budget
as attrition has already been spent, according to the Districts Chief Financial Officer, Jason
Goudie. In spite of the requirements of Assembly Bill 469 for money to follow the student, it is
business as usual for the CCSD;

2. Legislation to reorganize the CCSD, via Assembly Bill 394, first became effective in June 2015.
Assembly Bill 469 became effective in May 2017. These bills are largely identical. Each contains
a list of additional autonomies for principals and School Organizational Teams. One of the most
important autonomies is to provide principals with control over staffing. Yet, the Superintendent
has ignored this requirement of the law. Employees from all bargaining groups continue to be
assigned to schools without the permission or agreement of principals. Again, it is business as
usual for the CCSD and a violation of state law;

3. The Superintendents budget mismanagement has damaged principal and CCSD credibility with
respect to the recruitment effort related to newly-hired teachers and entry-level administrators,
who are now fearful of being laid off through a reduction in force;

4. The Superintendent has taken no initiative to rally school and central office administrators to quell
plummeting morale and to restore confidence. Rather, the Superintendent has worked to blame
the deficit on the CCASAPE arbitration and has required principals to explain to their School
Organization Teams how administrator raises were the determining cause of the school budget
shortfall, when it is clear that the deficit is directly related to the Superintendents mismanagement
of millions of dollars in general fund revenue;

5. By failing to manage the general fund budget, the Superintendent has guaranteed that schools
will have inadequate financial resources, thus making it more difficult for teachers and school
administrators to meet the needs of their studentsthe exact opposite of what Assembly Bill 469
promised;

6. Equally disturbing is the Superintendents personal treatment of some administrators. These

personal attacks occur in front of others, are highly inappropriate, are embarrassing to the victims,
and constitute bullying. No employee should be treated in this manner. A principal or department
head would be disciplined for engaging in similar behavior; and

7. The Superintendents decision-making over a long period of time has created an unsafe school
environment in many CCSD schools. As a result, school safety has become a growing concern
for principals at all levels. Student-on-student batteries and student-on-staff batteries are
escalating with higher incidents of serious injuries reported for both students and staff. There are
more guns and knives on campuses with serious injuries resulting. The recent stabbing of a
middle school student and the serious injury sustained by a school police officer while breaking
up a campus fight are recent examples of this problem. The Superintendents budget
mismanagement will result in a reduction of school police and/or administrators, further minimizing
the ability of school safety teams across the District to maintain a safe and secure learning
environment at each school location.
CCSD Board of School Trustees
September 5, 2017
Page 4

This letter is written on behalf of CCSD administrators. Trustees should realize that your administrators
are understandably angry regarding the current budget deficit. They are angry about the other major
concerns presented in this communication.

This letter, being sent on behalf of your administrators, closes with these questions. What actions will
the Trustees take to address these issues, and more importantly, how will the Trustees hold the
Superintendent accountable? A double standard is not acceptable. If a school principal or department
head mismanaged his or her budget to the extent that the CCSD budget has been mismanaged, he or
she would be demoted. If it was determined that the principal or department head made conscious
choices that he or she knew would run the budget into an extraordinary deficit position, resulting in
hardship to students and employees, he or she would be terminated for gross misconduct, defined in
Nevada Revised Statute 391.750. There are many who believe the circumstances described in this letter
fit the statutory definition of gross misconduct.

While CCASAPE does not believe it is in the best interest of the CCSD to be subject to additional oversight
or ultimate takeover by an outside party, these dire financial circumstances and the strong causal factors
leading to the deficit, as well as the violations of state law with respect to the reorganization of the District,
speak to the urgency for immediate action. The circumstances are such that if decisive action is not
quickly taken by the Trustees, then state intervention will be inevitable.

Your administrators expect that you will immediately address the very crucial issues identified in this
letter.

This is indeed a sad time for the Clark County School District.

Respectfully,

Stephen Augspurger, Executive Director

Clark County Association of School Administrators
and Professional-technical Employees

c: CCASAPE Representative Council

CCSD Administrators
Superintendent Skorkowsky
Senator Michael Roberson, Chair, Advisory Committee Overseeing the Reorganization of CCSD
Steve Canavero, State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Las Vegas Review-Journal
The Nevada Independent