Superintendent Joe Ernst said he’s optimistic about the direction the Washoe County School District is headed, even as it confronts declining student enrollment, a budget deficit and pushes for greater school accountability. 

Lower birth rates are among the factors behind the district’s lower student enrollment, which in turn means the district brings in less per-pupil funding. In Washoe County, the number of births has dropped from nearly 6,200 in 2007 to under 5,000 in 2022, district officials said at a Sept. 23 school board meeting. It follows nationwide and global trends. 

Though Washoe County is experiencing a net population increase, Ernst noted that not all new residents moving in have children. 

Charter schools have also gained students and have recently surpassed Washoe as the second largest “school district” in the state.  

Ernst, who became superintendent in July 2024 after working for the district nearly 30 years, discussed the district’s plan to navigate these challenges during an hourlong discussion as part of The Nevada Independent’s IndyTalks event on Oct. 15 at the National Automobile Museum in Reno. Watch the full video here. 

“I am not putting my head in the sand and not realizing the challenges that are in front of us, but we are going to roll up our sleeves, we’re going to be thoughtful, we’re going to do things together, and we’re going to try to continue to help the whole of Nevada,” he said. 

Budget woes 

With lower enrollment comes lower revenue. 

The declining enrollment is one of the contributing factors to the $18 million budget deficit the district is projecting next school year. Ernst said he sees the projected deficit as an opportunity to “narrow in on those things that we know are having success.”

He said the district’s recent investment in extracurricular activities for students — an effort to get students more deeply connected to their schools — has helped lower its chronic absenteeism rate. 

One long-term solution to lower the district’s costs is to close or repurpose schools that are experiencing under enrollment and relocate students to other schools or schools slated for renovation.

The district has been working on its facility modernization plan since it commissioned a study on the topic in 2022. The new and updated schools have been possible thanks to a 2016 sales tax increase for school building improvements approved by Washoe County voters known as WC1, which Ernst said the district is “forever grateful” for. 

Since it was passed, WC1 has brought in close to $500 million in revenue, according to the district. The district has used the funds so far in 12 capital projects, and has another in progress. 

The district estimates its planned school consolidation can save the district approximately $6.5 million annually. 

But Ernst said he wants to be careful that as the district makes cuts, it doesn’t erode the academic progress it’s making and does its best to keep those cuts from affecting students. 

“So when we are cutting, we also at the same time are continuing to repurpose funding toward priority areas,” he said.  

Accountability 

During the 2025 legislative session, Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas) successfully championed a bill, SB460, which called for greater accountability and tougher consequences for underperforming schools and districts, such as a state takeover or a superintendent’s termination. 

Ernst said past policies such as former Republican President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act — which set an ambitious goal for all students to be 100 percent proficient and threatened sanctions such as reorganization or closure for schools that failed to meet their annual goals — have resulted in “marginal gains at best.”

“We can improve schools, but it does not have to become an overly, as you mentioned, maybe some of the rural or other superintendents have said, punitive approach,” he said. “We have to move beyond that.” 

Another provision of the 2025 education omnibus bill requires educators that work with kindergarten through third grade students to be trained in the science of reading, a research-based approach to literacy instruction. Ernst said while his district is having success with this approach, the bill lacks a strong definition necessary for it to be successfully implemented at schools statewide.  

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News briefs

🗳️Teachers union endorses Ford for governor — The Nevada State Education Association (NSEA), which represents educators statewide, is endorsing Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford for governor. 

Ford, a former public school math teacher, will be running against a fellow Democrat, Washoe County Commissioner Alexis Hill, on his way to face the incumbent, Lombardo, in the general election. 

As attorney general, Ford has joined lawsuits that successfully halted the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the Department of Education and rescind up to $29 million in COVID-era grant funding for Nevada schools. 

As a former state senator and Senate majority leader, Ford worked on bills such as SB511, which established the Teach Nevada Scholarship program for aspiring educators, and SB391, which established the Nevada Promise Scholarship program to support high school graduates attending a community college.  

NSEA spokesman Alexander Marks said in a Friday statement to The Indy that Ford has “always stood with educators” and has “the record it takes to win and deliver for Nevada’s students and educators.”

His opponent, Hill, is proposing a property tax reform policy similar to a 2025 bill that the union backed during the latest legislative session that died in the state Senate. 

“The current systems haven’t been able to get teachers enough pay, students enough support or schools enough funding — Alexis’ plans will,” said her campaign spokesman Riley Sutton. 

The Clark County Education Association (CCEA) said it hasn’t made an endorsement in the governor’s race yet but when it does, “We are confident our endorsement will determine the outcome of the race.” 

CCEA has unique clout as the recognized bargaining unit for Clark County teachers, the largest group in the state.

CCEA supported former Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak ahead of his 2018 win but declined to endorse him again in 2022, when he lost to Lombardo. 

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Reading assignments

Nevada 3rd grade reading rates up, but fewer than half proficient as retention rule looms

Less than half of the more than 35,000 Nevada third graders read at grade level, and the latest data still largely lags behind pre-pandemic numbers. 

Nevada safe (for now) as shutdown imperils Head Start programs across the country

Head Start programs across the country that rely on federal funding to serve tens of thousands of the nation’s neediest preschoolers are scrambling to figure out how to keep their doors open with no end of the government shutdown in sight. 

Parents lament end of Dolly Parton’s free books in Clark County, say it will hurt literacy

Until October, more than 18,000 children younger than 5 received a free book every month from a local partner. The program needs about $650,000 to restart in 2026.

Extra credit

Nevada Appeal: Carson school district deficit could balloon to $5.4 million

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Why CCSD says reports of kids hit by vehicles have doubled

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Featured social media post 

Congrats to White Pine County School District Superintendent Adam Young, who is retiring at the end of this school year, on being named Nevada’s superintendent of the year.