LAS VEGAS — Clark County School District Superintendent Jhone Ebert has taken stock of her first year leading the fifth-largest school district in the country. As she looks ahead, Ebert is focused on key challenges that impact students, parents, and educators.
Student Safety Along Commutes
One of the top priorities for Ebert and the Clark County School District (CCSD) has been improving student safety during school commutes. To address this, Ebert and CCSD collaborated with the Legislature on two significant pieces of legislation: a law to allow stop-arm cameras on school buses and the “School Zone Bill.”
The School Zone Bill gives cities and the county more flexibility in modifying school zone times, flashers, and the distance and length of school zones. It also doubles the fines for traffic violations in these areas.
Earlier this summer, the School Traffic Safety Working Group was formed to recommend sweeping changes, including modifications to school zones, for the next school year.
Ebert emphasized the importance of ensuring children are safe when traveling to and from school. “If we could have what we want, what would we have? What do we need to do differently to support our children and our families going to and from school? So [we] started with a list,” she said. “That report will come out here shortly with the rest of the body of work that they’ve been looking at, to continue working together to make sure that, going to and from school, that our children are safe and that drivers slow down, people are concentrating, obeying the law when they’re in and around our school buildings.”
Stop-Arm Cameras and Hidden Costs
In late February, the process to award a vendor for installing stop-arm cameras on school buses was paused. Ebert explained the district’s concerns about the rollout, particularly regarding hidden costs.
“It starts right with just the contract: how you make sure that the school district doesn’t end up in a position where we believe that we’re not paying for certain things on the implementation of the stop-arm cameras, and that it’s not a cost to the school districts. Other school districts across the nation have had to put in initial investments that they weren’t expecting,” Ebert said.
She noted that CCSD is learning from other districts that have implemented similar systems. “So again, I feel blessed that I get to lean in on the work that other school districts have completed before we implement here in Southern Nevada.”
New School Start Times
Earlier this year, CCSD officials announced adjustments to school start times for the 2026–2027 school year. High schools and elementary schools will start later, while middle schools will begin earlier. This change came after thousands of parents submitted surveys.
“We will be adding bus drivers into the future for next year with the change in the start times. Excited about it. We know we have both sides of the coin: people saying, ‘yes, I’m really excited about the new start times. No, I’m not.’ And I think it’s an adjustment,” Ebert said.
She highlighted that CCSD was the only school district in the nation with a 7 a.m. start time. “There’s nowhere else in the nation that anyone does that. And so using the research, using the input from families, we are happy to make that change across the school district.”
Ebert added that the district will track data to see if the change leads to improved student outcomes.
Budget Cuts and Surplus Positions
In February, CCSD announced that hundreds of schools faced budget cuts of approximately $50 million due to a forecasted decline in student numbers for the 2026–2027 school year. Around 1,200 positions, including those for teachers, support staff, and administrators, were identified as “surplus.”
CCSD expressed optimism that most, if not all, of the 1,200 workers affected by the budget cuts could be repositioned.
Earlier this month, the Board approved a tentative budget for the 2026–27 school year, with a $33 million reduction.
FOX5 asked about the status of placing teachers. Ebert responded, “We follow the contract, the teacher’s contract. We have just right around 200 teachers that are going through the surplus process at this point in time. When it started, it was over 700 educators. They’ve been able to find jobs as we’ve been going through the process, and that’s continuing. I’m shooting for 100% of our teachers placed.”
