CCSD has spent $53M on settlements, attorney fees

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – Fifty-three million dollars. That’s how much the Clark County School District has spent this fiscal year on settlements and lawyer fees.

The district’s interim superintendent Brenda Larsen-Mitchell revealed the figure at Thursday’s school board meeting.

Administrators have cited lawsuits as one of the reasons why CCSD is experiencing a budget deficit.

“My understanding is that we budgeted $30 million for litigation and we were over by approximately 23 [million],” Larsen-Mitchell said.

She was responding to a question from Linda Cavazos CCSD board of trustee.

“Litigation is more expensive,” Jason Goudie, the former chief financial officer for CCSD, said on Friday. He was fired last month after the district’s shortfall came to light.

“Under my contract, I was fired without cause and that’s the only thing I know. I was not given any more details,” Goudie said.

Goudie oversaw the district’s $3.4 billion budget for about seven years and says the amount CCSD has paid in settlements and attorney fees continues to increase.

“Claims come in and unfortunately, you don’t have a crystal ball to understand how many claims are going to come each year,” Goudie said.

At Thursday’s meeting, the school board approved a $3.5 million payment to settle a lawsuit involving former Sierra Vista high teacher Jonathan Cronin.

Cronin was arrested in 2019 for inappropriately touching several students, but that’s hardly the largest payout by CCSD this year.

In June, a federal judge approved a proposed settlement for $10 million.

The parents of JJ Wahrer, who has autism and is non-verbal, sued CCSD in 2019. JJ was six at the time when he was abused by his teacher.

“You don’t necessarily get notified of these lawsuits until the plaintiff’s attorneys file suit, and so therefore, some of these come in very late and can be very costly,” Goudie said.

The interim superintendent also attributed CCSD’s shortfall to a $14.9 million contract with a cybersecurity firm, which the district hired after last year’s hack.

According to CCSD, the district is currently experiencing a nearly $10.9 million budget deficit that It plans to cover by tapping into its approximately $160 million unassigned ending fund balance.

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