The Clark County School District will restrict hours for most substitute teachers after an internal review found the district failed for more than three years to implement a state law making licensed substitutes eligible for Public Employees' Retirement System benefits. Senate Bill 434, signed into law in 2023, removed substitutes from a list of workers exempt from retirement eligibility effective July 1, 2023, but the district never enacted the change.
The oversight could cost the district between $15 million and $17.5 million annually in benefits costs, according to district estimates. As of Nov. 1, the district had 4,742 licensed substitutes, with about 675 classified as substitutes on special assignment who work at one school for a full year. Those substitutes must decide by Monday whether to opt into retirement benefits or keep their hours below the 720-hour annual threshold.
Most substitutes already work fewer than 719 hours per year, which equals nearly 90 eight-hour workdays, the district said. Only substitutes on special assignment can currently opt in to earn retirement benefits. Qualifying substitutes who enroll will see paycheck changes starting Dec. 9.
Superintendent Jhone Ebert said she is grateful to the leadership team for identifying the lack of compliance. "I have committed to being transparent with our Board of School Trustees and our community about all major issues, especially budget concerns," Ebert said in a statement. The district is working with the retirement system to determine what it owes educators who should have received benefits since 2023.
The new costs arrive as CCSD faces fiscal pressures from declining enrollment and a $51 million midyear budget shortfall that threatened hundreds of positions before Gov. Joe Lombardo approved a stopgap funding plan in September to sustain districts until the 2027 Legislature convenes.
Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Original reporting: Las Vegas Review-Journal →
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