Report: Operational Efficiencies Could Save CCSD Tens of Millions a Year

The new Clark County School District (CCSD) Efficiency Study estimates CCSD could save up to $34 million in the first year and up to $79 million annually within the next five years through identified operational efficiencies. The report was presented to the Board of School Trustees on Wednesday, June 3, 2026.

The savings were identified as part of a CCSD Efficiency Study commissioned by Superintendent Jhone Ebert, the first of its kind in CCSD since 2011. The report was conducted by Gibson Consulting Group.

The study can be found here. It examined two areas: Educational Efficiencies and Operational Efficiencies.

“CCSD wants our community and our elected officials to know that we are maximizing every dollar,” Ebert said. 

Ebert noted that the report contains recommendations that will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis for feasibility. Additionally, as work begins on the Study, savings will be realized for the 2027-2028 school year, Ebert said.

“Also, our new strategic plan outlines our transformation into a Destination District,” Ebert said. “The Educational Efficiencies identified in this report will accelerate our student achievement growth. The Operational Efficiencies outlined in this study will help fund the work we need to do to transform our schools. The aim is to create schools that are supportive places where learning sparks joy and students are prepared to build a home, a life, and a future.”

Operational Efficiencies were identified in six key areas:

• Improved Software/Licensing Monitoring: CCSD could implement a Software Asset Management program to better manage districtwide purchases and the use of instructional and administrative software. Consolidating software licenses could save an estimated $700,000 in 2026-2027, with savings increasing annually to as much as $11.25 million in 2030-2031. 

• Transportation Routing and Bus Fleet Reconfiguration: CCSD designs transportation routes based on the total number of eligible students to maintain maximum access. This strategy was rooted in eliminating attendance barriers by reserving a seat for every eligible student. However, this practice has resulted in empty seats when families choose alternative transportation. Starting in the 2027-2028 school year, CCSD could implement an “opt-in” transportation system to serve students whose families indicate they want to ride school buses, reducing the number of empty seats. Also, the study found that CCSD has been providing more expensive special education service routes to students who could benefit from riding with their peers on general education routes. It is estimated that these changes could save $9 million after initial implementation and increase savings to up to $18 million in 2030-2031.

• Preventive Maintenance Program: CCSD has already made strides in improving “preventative” maintenance of facilities, which is typically much less expensive than “reactive” repairs. For example, CCSD invested $5.2 million in HVAC repairs at 37 schools with the highest repair needs before the 2025-2026 school year, resulting in 97% HVAC effectiveness. Accelerating this work could save an estimated $10 million after initial implementation and could increase savings up to $20 million in 2030-2031.

• Updated Construction Design Standards: CCSD is updating its Construction Design Manual, last updated in 2016. The report recommends incorporating proven tactics to save funds, such as Value Engineering to identify lower-cost ways to deliver better building performance and functionality, Life Cycle Costing to identify building materials that stand up to student use and last longer before needing replacement, and Post-Occupancy Evaluation to measure how buildings perform compared with original design goals and support a continuous improvement process. It is estimated that this could save up to $4 million after initial implementation, and up to $10 million a year by 2030-2031.

• Energy Performance Benchmarking: CCSD spent $83.4 million in electricity, natural gas, and water utilities in the 2024-2025 school year. The report found that CCSD could save funds by benchmarking energy use to prevent energy overuse, optimize scheduling, and better identify problems such as leaks and the need to tune HVAC systems. It is estimated that this could save $7.4 million after initial implementation and increase savings to $11.9 million annually in 2030-2031.

• General Fund Indirect Cost Recovery: CCSD can recover more “indirect” administrative costs for operating major grants, such as those that fund Food Service and federal Title programs. By recovering these costs at an industry-standard rate, CCSD could generate as much as $3.5 million after initial implementation and increase general fund savings to up to $8.5 million in 2030-2031.

While the Educational Efficiencies identified are not projected to save funds, they will support the District’s new strategic plan, The Destination District. The Gibson Consulting Group worked with TNTP and other educational experts in multilingual and special education to identify ways to maximize classroom instruction. Educational Efficiencies identified include:

• Strengthening the implementation of high-quality, grade-level instruction in literacy and mathematics. While consultants observed that CCSD classrooms now have access to strong curriculum and high-quality instructional materials, they found evidence of varied instructional quality and some confusion about district expectations for instruction. This work aligns with the goals set in The Destination District strategic plan to focus on basic literacy and numeracy skills; create classroom walkthrough tools to monitor instructional quality; and then dive into choice, innovation, and expanded programming that encourage critical thinking and problem-solving.

• Restructuring special education programming. Among other recommendations, the report advocates that CCSD establish and communicate policies and procedures to increase the time special education students spend in general education classrooms as much as possible and examine staffing models for special education teachers and instructional aides.

• Implement a framework to improve instruction for English language learners. The report found inconsistent support for English language learners and the need for better progress monitoring to monitor language growth. 

• Reduce reliance on an outside vendor for credit-deficient high school students and develop programs for credit-deficient students at each high school. The report recommends that multiple pathways be available for students struggling with the traditional high school environment. 

The report also calls for:

• Incorporating efficiency measurements into central office and school budgets to better measure the effectiveness of spending.
• Adopting a districtwide framework to align resources and determine which site-based decisions need district approval, and which site-based decisions do not need district approval.