Henderson, North Las Vegas approved to open quasi-school districts, sponsor charter schools

Henderson City Hall in May 2024. (Photo: April Corbin Girnus/Nevada Current)

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The charter school landscape in Nevada is changing.

The Nevada Department of Education on Monday announced that the Cities of Henderson and North Las Vegas have been approved to become charter school authorizers. This will allow the cities to sponsor and oversee charter schools within their municipality boundary lines.

Cities and counties were granted the ability to sponsor charter schools last year through Gov. Joe Lombardo’s omnibus education bill , Assembly Bill 400, and in late February the Nevada DOE began accepting from municipalities to become authorizers.

Previously, charter schools in Nevada could only be sponsored by the State Public Charter School Authority (SPCSA), school districts, or colleges. And only the SPCSA was actively working toward growing the number of charter schools across the state.

While individual charter schools are given student enrollment caps, the SPCSA as a whole does not have a cap on the number of schools it can open or students it can enroll. But total enrollment for each municipal authorizer will be capped at 7% of the number of student residents enrolled by the zoned traditional public school district. That provision was amended into Lombardo’s bill, which was subject to heavy negotiations with the Democratic-controlled Legislature.

Enrollment at Clark County School District fluctuates, but Henderson Mayor Michelle Romero says the city estimates it will be able to open “up to four small schools.”

“We’d love to increase that,” she added.

Wilson Ramos, the director of community services and engagement at the City of North Las Vegas, said the city doesn’t yet have an estimate for how many students it will be capped at enrolling.

Both cities expect to sponsor new charter schools that open for the 2025-26 academic year.

The municipal authorizers will also have the ability to “bring in” existing charter schools that are sponsored by other authorizers, said Romero. Enrollment numbers at those transferred schools will not count toward the municipal authorizer’s 7% cap.

There are currently 18 SPCSA-sponsored charter schools located within Henderson, according to the city.

Ramos says North Las Vegas has not yet contemplated the possibility of absorbing any existing charter schools.

The majority of charter schools in Nevada are sponsored by the SPCSA. If looked at as a quasi-district, the SPCSA is the third largest local education agency in the state of Nevada and on track to being the second largest. As of the DOE’s most recent official enrollment count, Washoe County School District had approximately 2,800 more students enrolled than the SPCSA, and the growth rate of the SPCSA far exceeds that of WCSD.

Henderson and North Las Vegas are the second and fourth largest incorporated cities in Nevada, respectively, with a combined population around 612,000.

The cities will now have to create boards to manage and review charter school applications.

Romero says Henderson hasn’t finalized how its board will be structured, but she expects it to be similar to the SPCSA Board, with members appointed for their expertise or backgrounds in key areas like education and law.

Ramos says North Las Vegas plans to have a board of city employees review applications, which will then be presented to the mayor and city council for approval. But before that process actually begins, his department will seek public input on what residents want from their city-sponsored charter schools. Information on how to participate will be posted to the city’s website when available, he added.

North Las Vegas Mayor Pamela Goynes-Brown in a statement said the city “aims to empower educators, support diverse learning environments, and ensure that every child has access to the best possible education. This initiative is not just about schools, it’s about our entire community.”

Ramos added, “We can change what education looks like and what kiddos get from them. We are very excited, although we know this is not an easy or simple lift.”

Mayor Romero struck a similar hopeful tone.

“Residents (in Henderson) have been asking over and over again for more choice, more availability of schools that meet their needs,” she told the Current . “This is a first step. This gives us more flexibility and autonomy. It’s another tool in our toolbelt to improve outcomes in our city.”

Clark County School District declined to comment on Monday’s announcement.

CCSD moves in opposite direction

As Henderson and North Las Vegas blaze a path toward more involvement with charter schools, CCSD is moving further away from them.

The Clark County School Board on May 16 approved the district’s request to submit to the Nevada DOE notice to withdraw as a charter school sponsor, effective June 30, 2026. That timeline aligns with the end of existing contracts for the six charter schools it sponsors .

The six CCSD-sponsored charter schools are: Delta Academy, Explore Knowledge Academy, Innovations International Charter School of Nevada, Odyssey Charter Schools, 100 Academy of Excellence, and Rainbow Dreams Academy. What happens to those schools after CCSD ceases sponsoring them will be up to the individual school leaders, but in an email to the Current, the district said it is expected they will apply for sponsorship from the SPCSA.

Trustees approved the withdrawal request as part of their consent agenda, meaning no public presentation or discussion occurred, but in an email announcing the decision, the district stated “the move will allow CCSD to focus its limited resources on District students.”

CCSD stopped considering applications for new charter schools in 2007, according to its communications office, so the May decision aligns with existing practices.

A Nevada DOE spokesperson said that, as of Monday, no other city or county in the state had applied to become a charter school authorizer.

The City of Las Vegas “is not pursuing becoming an authorizer at this time,” a spokesperson told the Current Monday. The City of Las Vegas does operate a charter school, Strong Start Academy , but it is sponsored by the SPCSA.

A spokesperson for Clark County said they are “unaware of any conversations about this at the time.”

The City of Reno did not respond to the Current ’s request for comment.

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