Officials warn support staff of job losses

Some Clark County School District support staff may be out of a job as the result of an anticipated reduction in force following the district’s closure of a $68 million deficit for 2018-19.

Staff were notified of the possible reduction in force process Thursday in a memo from the district’s human resources department after principals identified cuts in their individual school budgets.

“I want to assure you that this decision is not intended in any way as a reflection upon any employee’s professional skills,” Chief Human Resources Officer Andre Long wrote in the memo.

The School Board approved a tentative budget for next school year in May, but instructed schools to make $47 million in cuts to help close the deficit.

Support staff attended a surplus meeting on Wednesday, where 72 employees whose positions were cut from their schools began looking for suitable jobs elsewhere in the district, Long said.

Of those, 32 did not select a new position — either because there were no jobs in their category or available positions were below the employee’s current salary range.

That begins the “reduction-in-force” process, a complex scenario where senior employees can “bump” employees out of their current job. Those who are bumped out of their job can then bump an employee with less seniority, a process that can leave recent hires without a job.

Long said he did not anticipate many people being left without jobs.

Following last year’s approximately $60 million deficit, only six support staff were ultimately left without a job after the reassignment process, according to district data. The district was unsure whether that was due to the budget cuts or regular staffing adjustments made every fall.