The Clark County School District (CCSD) paid consultants more than $60 million from January through June 2024, marking the largest payment across a six-month period since at least 2012, according to an analysis by The Nevada Independent.

The payments, publicized in a report made to the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee earlier this month, shows that the nation’s fifth largest school district doled out the money to more than 375 individuals and groups. The funds were mostly designated for professional development and wraparound programs, which can include anything from at-home behavioral health services to after school care.

The data reflects the prominent, yet relative to the size of the district’s budget, somewhat small, role of outsourcing programs in Nevada’s largest school district. Payments to consultants (a catch-all term that also includes nonprofits and community organizations) in the 2023-2024 school year made up about 3 percent of the district’s $3.4 billion budget.

A district spokesperson attributed the higher consulting costs to program expansion, expenses related to pandemic response, an increase in wraparound services and technology support. The spokesperson also said staffing shortages prompted the district to contract with outside entities to complete work typically done by internal staff. 

The payments represent a more than $17 million increase in consultant costs from the prior six-month reporting period (July 2023 through December 2023) and are $5 million higher than any other six-month period since 2012, the earliest year data is available. CCSD paid $45 million more to consultants than any other district from January through June.

Since the pandemic, the data shows a surge of relief funding has given way to more outsourcing of programs. In the past three years, the district’s biannual payments to consultants have increased by 79 percent compared to the three prior years.

John Vellardita, the executive director of the Clark County Education Association, said in an interview that he believes there should be greater oversight of school district contracts with outside groups, and is planning to push for legislation next year that would increase legislative accountability of such agreements. He added that the windfall of pandemic relief funds prompted a “feeding frenzy” of organizations seeking a piece of the pie.

Vellardita acknowledged that many of the contracts with CCSD “are probably justified,” but he also thinks the district trustees do not scrutinize these deals closely enough. He is also wary of using money for “professional development,” which made up about a quarter of CCSD’s consultants spending earlier this year.

“Very seldom did you hear any of the trustees question whether or not it was needed, whether or not the intended expenditure would produce the outcomes,” Vellardita said. “We need to … determine whether or not these public dollars are just being sucked off for other reasons, other than benefiting a child's education or the support of a child.”

Top recipients

Boys Town Nevada, a social services group that provides family and youth emotional and behavioral support training in Las Vegas, received more than $7.7 million from the district, which was $3 million more than any other consultant listed.

In the 2023-2024 school year, Boys Town was present in 83 Clark County schools (out of 383 total), providing in-school training to students and teachers and at-home behavioral care, the group’s executive director John Etzell said in an interview. Program staffers provide crisis management and de-escalation skills training to students, and often sit in on student disciplinary meetings.

Boys Town has worked with the district for a decade, and had a $10.3 million contract in place from 2022 to 2024 funded by pandemic relief funds or another grant program. Across that period, the group worked with more than 10,000 students in-school, trained more than 4,000 teachers and worked with more than 750 families and 1,650 students at their homes. 

The large payment to Boys Town this year largely resulted from retroactive payments from the first half of the school year, and payments soared in the past year because the group was active in more schools, Etzell said.

“Going from 27 schools all the way up to 83 schools in a two-year period is an aggressive plan for anyone,” he said. “Year two, because we were in more schools … was certainly the higher [cost] of the two.”

The next highest paid consultant was Progressus Therapy LLC — a Florida-based group that brings licensed mental health providers into schools. It received more than $4.2 million from January through June. Communities in Schools of Southern Nevada, which helps underserved students stay in school by providing mental health assistance and basic needs support, received about $4 million.

Neither group responded to an interview request.

After-School All-Stars Las Vegas, which has worked with CCSD since 1995, received $1.7 million for its work providing free after-school programs in 21 elementary and middle schools, said executive director Jodi Manzella. The 2.5-hour program includes a meal, an academic hour and an hour for activities.

Other top recipients include 95 Percent LLC, which focuses on school leadership development in lower-rated schools; the United Citizens Foundation, which provides school-based behavioral health services; and Hazel Health, which offers telehealth primary care for students.

See the below graphic for a full list of all consultants paid by CCSD during the last six months: