From Nevada’s shining lights in Las Vegas to the blue of Lake Tahoe and the vastness of the Great Basin, Nevada schools are as unique as the landscape across the state. School districts across the state are just as unique, with some serving hundreds of thousands of students and some enrolling only a few dozen. Since Nevada moved to the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan in 2019, equity in school funding has increased drastically, but it still leaves behind rural schools.

Replacing the 54-year-old Nevada Plan, the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan was aimed at making a more equitable and flexible funding system designed for the students in Nevada and, in part, that's what it has done. It provides a base amount per student enrollment and weighs three factors: English learners, at-risk pupils and gifted and talented education. However, disparities between rural and urban districts are becoming alarmingly palpable. 

Clark County School District (CCSD) is the fifth largest school district in the country, and with approximately 300,000 students, it makes up roughly 60 percent of Nevada’s students. CCSD provides outstanding opportunities to Las Vegas youth, offering 45 magnet schools with specializations ranging from STEM, pre-med, law enforcement, leadership and more. These programs are invaluable for students in Clark County, providing hands-on experience and a specialized education, preparing them for the future. In 2023, CCSD opened Northeast Career and Technical Academy, which cost the district $200 million, using capital bonds to pay for its construction.

Contrast this with White Pine County School District, a school district with about 1,300 students, coming from small towns such as Ely and Lund. During the 2023 legislative session, Superintendent Adam Young advocated for SB100, which would have provided the district with $60 million to construct a new K-8 building, replacing its middle school, built in 1913, and its elementary school, built in 1909.

These buildings lack proper ventilation, heating and air-conditioning systems, are noncompliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and have asbestos throughout the facilities. A study from the University of Oregon shows that thermal distraction and discomfort may decrease student performance and low ventilation rates harm student concentration and performance on tests, not to mention the negative consequences of asbestos including cancer, asbestosis and pleural disease. 

Nevada provides no capital improvement funds for schools on the state level. All of it must come locally, which is almost impossible with a cap on property taxes. Even if the tax cap was lifted, it would not generate enough funds to construct a new school building. Despite this, White Pine County School District serves as a beacon for the rest of Nevada, embracing innovative education models and creating the White Pine Portrait of a Leader.

However, school construction is only one part of the problem.

Community support remains invaluable to school districts. Through partnerships and donations, local businesses and organizations can provide opportunities to students they wouldn’t have had otherwise. In CCSD, this comes through partnerships with organizations and companies such as BreakDown, the Public Education Foundation and Wynn Resorts. CCSD students are provided with unique internship opportunities and have exclusive access to scholarship opportunities, with many scholarships mentioning Southern Nevada, but excluding those students who don’t attend CCSD schools.

While rural schools still rely on partnerships with the community, local mom-and-pop shops can only contribute so much and don’t compare to the big businesses in Las Vegas. Many of these communities are separated by hours-long commutes and lack opportunities for students to build skills working in the community, so school districts must create these opportunities themselves. The lack of business areas leads to fewer scholarship opportunities and, oftentimes, the lack of advanced Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses in rural schools makes it all the more difficult to compete for state or national scholarships.

Although Nevada has made strides in funding equality, many students across the state still face chronic underfunding. These students live in two different worlds: one where students have the opportunity to apply to attend one of 19 high-end magnet high schools, and the other where they are forced to go to class in their centuries-old school with asbestos. Every Nevadan has the right to a quality, safe public education no matter where they live.

Michael Keyes is a senior at Pahrump Valley High School. He serves to advocate for student needs through a variety of positions, including as a student member to the Nevada State Board of Education and executive president for the National Student Board Member Association.

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