Whether or not Nevada teachers will have their recent pay raises continued will come down to a budget decision next year between Nevada lawmakers and Gov. Joe Lombardo.

Funding for those raises was created through SB231, a 2023 bill that created a $250 million matching fund for teacher raises that would supplement salary hikes agreed upon during contract negotiations. All of the state’s 17 school districts have taken advantage of the fund to boost educator salaries.

However, the money authorized in the bill only lasts through the end of June, meaning school districts may face a major budget hole or roll back the raises if funding is not renewed during the upcoming legislative session that kicks off in February 2025.

Proponents of the funding got welcome news Monday when the state’s Economic Forum — a panel of private-sector economists that projects the size of the state’s budget — forecasted that Lombardo and legislators will have $12.4 billion for the next two-year budget, a slight increase from the prior budget.

Officials have remained relatively mum in public on the prospect of renewing the funding, which passed with only Assemblyman Richard McArthur (R-Las Vegas) opposed, but there appears to be a desire for renewal on both sides of the aisle.

The governor’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment, but a source with knowledge of the situation said Lombardo is looking to incorporate the $250 million in his proposed budget that will be unveiled next month.

Additionally, Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager (D-Las Vegas) said in a statement to The Nevada Independent that the Economic Forum’s “projections pave the way for our state to be able to continue to invest in Nevada’s teachers and education support professionals.” He also indicated that the $250 million matching fund was “a promise to our students, our families, and our future.”

Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas) said in a statement “that stable revenue projections mean we’ll be well positioned to protect key Democratic wins from the 2023 session — and teacher raises are at the top of the priority list.”

John Vellardita, the president of the Clark County Education Association (CCEA), declined to comment specifically about the extension of SB231 funds but expressed optimism about education policy in the next legislative session, stopping short of setting expectations of what that policy might look like.

“Clearly it's not going to be like it was last time,” he said. “At this point, we feel confident that good things are going to happen in this session.”

Because teacher raises are bound by contract negotiations between school districts and unions, the Legislature opted instead to create a $250 million bucket for school staff salaries that would be distributed to districts as matching funds by the Interim Finance Committee, a group of lawmakers that makes spending decisions between legislative sessions. Creation of the fund was not included in Lombardo’s proposed 2023-2025 budget.

Not all school districts used the money in the same way.

Clark County School District, for example, received $173 million from the funding pool, split among support staff, licensed teachers and its police officers.

However, the district’s agreement with CCEA treated the money as a supplemental pay increase, as opposed to changes to employees’ base pay. This was in part because of uncertainty surrounding whether the money would be available beyond the end of fiscal year 2025, which ends in June.

“We used it for additional pay, not on the base pay, but additional pay for special ed, for high vacancy, hard-to-fill, Title I schools,” Vellardita said.

The other school districts used the money directly to increase the base pay of employees. For example, the Washoe County School District used the money to fund a 4 percent increase in employees’ base pay through the end of fiscal year 2025.

Some districts, including those in Humboldt and Lyon counties, featured language in their union agreements that the pay raises awarded through the bill would sunset beginning next July, unless the funding is renewed by the Legislature. 

Updated on 12/9/24 at 11:10 a.m. to correct that all Nevada school districts have taken advantage of the funds to boost educator salaries.