District will issue $400M in bonds for new buildings, repairs

The Clark County School District has been approved to issue $400 million more in facilities bonds to help fund new buildings as well as address the maintenance needs of its aging schools.

The request was approved Wednesday by the Oversight Panel for School Facilities, a state-mandated independent oversight panel, as part of the district’s 10-year authorization to issue bonds first granted in 2015.

Approximately $1.7 billion in bond revenue has been generated since, according to a district presentation, but with $1.3 billion spent and another $280 million under contract, the remaining revenue proceeds are around $85 million.

The district recently refocused its facilities priorities on the maintenance and renovation of existing schools rather than the addition of new ones, with a revision to its capital improvement program in November that stressed the need to address an estimated $6 billion in maintenance needs particularly affecting 290 schools that are over 20 years old.

The National Council on School Facilities found that CCSD should be investing approximately $90 million per year to catch up on deferred maintenance, according to the facilities panel presentation. The district also estimated in November that an additional $86.7 million per year was needed for school preventive maintenance.

“For many years, preventive maintenance of buildings, equipment, and sites has been postponed due to lack of funding in the operating budget,” the presentation said. “The lack of investment in maintenance upkeep has created deferred maintenance and continually increases the burden on the capital improvement program.”

The district’s current so-called modernization projects include HVAC and roof replacements at 41 elementary schools, 19 elementary school classroom additions, 15 middle schools and 13 high schools.

The district is also planning several replacement schools, including three elementary schools in east Las Vegas passed by the Board of Trustees in May, as well as a new elementary school on Broadbent Boulevard and East Russell Road, and two new Career Technical Academies set to open in the next four years.

While the district is facing budget cuts this year due to the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chief Financial Officer Jason Goudie said he expects no significant impact initially on the district’s ability to continue to pay the bond, as the property tax roll has been established for 2021.

Some impact on property tax values is expected in the future, Goudie said.