The Clark County School District (CCSD) is considering tapping into a Trump administration school choice tax credit program to provide scholarships to support its students — marking a public school use of a program that's generally seen as promoting the privatization of education. 

Dubbed the Education Freedom Tax Credit, the program will allow individuals to receive dollar-for-dollar federal tax credits for donations of up to $1,700 to nonprofits serving as scholarship granting organizations approved by participating states. The organization could then award the funds to K-12 students to help them cover certain educational expenses — possibly tutoring, summer school and resources for students with special needs. 

While the federal program has primarily been promoted by school choice advocates as an avenue to provide more Nevada students with a pathway to a private school education, it will also be open to public school students.

The district's chief financial officer, Justin Dayhoff, said during an Aug. 12 interview "there's zero reason that school districts should shy away from taking advantage of what could be a substantial revenue opportunity for kids and families."

"It's our job always to continue to find every opportunity we can to make our pie bigger," he said. 

Unlike a deduction, which lowers an individual's taxable income, a credit lowers the tax bill itself, the district explained in meeting materials. There is no limit on how much organizations can raise.

Nevada, along with 30 other states including some led by Democrats, such as Colorado, had opted into the federal program as of June 12, according to a tracker from Education Week. Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo said in a January statement the decision "will greatly expand school choice options for families across the state."

While Nevada has a similar scholarship program — known as Opportunity Scholarships — for private school students, its funding has been starved by Democratic lawmakers despite Lombardo's efforts to expand it, limiting how many students can benefit from it. 

Opponents of the federal program, such as the nonprofit Educate Nevada Now, a group whose goals include dramatically increasing funding to public schools, and Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat running for governor, have previously criticized it, concerned it could mean less federal revenue to support essential services such as Medicaid. 

But Rich Broome, CEO of the Las Vegas-based Public Education Foundation, which is partnering with CCSD on the federal program, described it as an opportunity for individuals to have a say on how their tax money is spent and said it might entice more families to stay or return to the district to take advantage of this opportunity. 

"Here you say, 'My $1,700 stays home and is helping our kids get a better education,'" he said in an Aug. 11 interview.

Dayhoff pitched the Clark County Scholarship Program at the district's school board meeting on Thursday. He said as the scholarship granting organization, the foundation will be in charge of marketing the program, raising donations and awarding scholarships. 

Dayhoff said the district is waiting for the Treasury to release the full guidance for the program, which is expected to come out next month, to determine exactly what services it will be able to provide.

Broome said it's still too early to tell how many taxpayers will support the federal program, but he and Dayhoff think it's important that CCSD is prepared when the program begins next year. 

"The message is clear: If Nevada is participating, the Nevada public schools need a public school implementation strategy," Dayhoff said at the Thursday school board meeting. "We're here today because we cannot wait until January to decide whether to build one."

Which students will qualify

In order to qualify for the federal program, students must be eligible to enroll in a public K-12 school and their families must earn no more than three times the area median income. That's about $200,000 for a family in Clark County, using 2024 figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. 

Dayhoff said the district anticipates a wide swath of its students will meet that income requirement. He added that the district doesn't anticipate adding any additional requirements. 

The school district's program isn't finalized, pending the full guidance, but Dayhoff said it's possible the district could award the funds directly to families so they can choose how they want to spend those funds, or it could offer a bundle of services that all participating families would have access to, or a combination of those two models. 

"We're building this airplane while we fly it … because the federal government is building the same airplane while they fly it," he said.