Superintendent John Boyd informed staff via email of the proposed cuts

Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com

Evergreen Public Schools is recommending the reduction of the equivalent of 140 full-time positions that will affect the district office, elementary, middle, and high schools for the 2023-24 academic year.

John Boyd, the superintendent for Evergreen schools, said he will be presenting the budget recommendations for the 23-24 school year to the board of directors on March 14, and that includes approximately $19 million in reductions.

“Unfortunately, there is no way to make a reduction in this size without impacting the lives of our students and staff. Therefore, the recommendations will include staff reductions,” Boyd wrote in an email that was sent to Evergreen employees late Tuesday afternoon.

Among positions on the proposed cut list: 

High schools: 

• 14.5 full time positions of certificated staff
• 11 Paraeducators in special education
• 12 Secretarial/Clerical Staff
• 5 Teacher/Librarians
• And all four athletic directors

Clark County Today learned that the athletic directors from Evergreen, Heritage, Mountain View, and Union High Schools were told Monday that their positions were recommended to be eliminated.

In the middle schools, three multilingual paraeducators are on the cut list, as well as 5.5 certificated staff and 3.3 at-risk advocates, plus six librarians.

At elementary schools, 20.8 academic interventionists, 4.5 associate principals, 10 family resource coordinators, and 12 media assistants are among the proposed cuts.

There are more than 10 positions on the cut list for the district office.

“Part of my leadership promise to you was to be as transparent as possible when it came to sharing information that affects all of us,” Boyd wrote. “With that in mind, I want to share with you details about the recommended budget reductions along with information about the process we used to make these difficult budget decisions.”

He noted the biggest factor for our budget reduction is the district’s enrollment decline. Other contributing factors, according to Boyd, are the loss of Federal ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funds, the decline in Levy Equalization Funds, and inflation.

Boyd said administrators used input from the community after receiving information from a survey, allowing students, staff, family, and other community members to anonymously share their budget priorities.

Clark County Today talked to multiple employees who are on the proposed cut list. Some said they believed it was possible they could be reassigned elsewhere in the district.

Boyd’s letter, however, said staff members will be “greatly missed.”

“These decisions are made with the understanding that staff reductions impact the lives of people who have been committed to supporting our students. These staff members will be greatly missed,” Boyd wrote. “I also realize that staff reductions will force the rest of us to do more with less. I know that it won’t be easy, but I am confident we can work together to provide our students with the educational experience they deserve.”

Boyd said he understands the email will cause stress but he said it was important to get the information out to the staff prior to the March 14 board meeting. He said he will be addressing more details concerning the proposed cuts in a video to be released later this week.