Nevada state auditors say Clark County School District staffers racked up more than $50,000 on out-of-state recruiting trips to Miami, Honolulu and Houston between 2021 and 2024, and much of it produced little to show for the spending. One trip to Miami alone reportedly cost the district roughly $32,400 and resulted in zero new teacher hires, according to state findings presented last month.
Auditors Detail Years of Recruiting Travel
The findings came from a Nevada Legislative Auditor report examining CCSD recruitment and retention strategies, presented August 20 to the Legislative Commission's Audit Subcommittee, according to the Nevada Legislature. The audit reviewed district activities from July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2024, and as reported by KLAS 8 News Now, auditors described several trips as ineffective, expensive and noncompliant with district travel policy. Legislative Auditor Jeff Mullen testified that two of five tested recruiting events involved wasted public funds and lacked required district approval.
The Miami trip took place in July 2023 and involved 17 recruiters and principals, the station's report notes. Staff conducted in-person visits at the University of Miami and Nova Southeastern University, which has campuses in both Miami and Fort Lauderdale, and stayed five nights at the Holiday Inn Oceanfront on Miami Beach. The hotel stay cost $11,530, while auditors cited a total trip cost of about $32,400. The same account notes the trip lacked brochures or registration forms to justify it, with some hotel, flight and meal costs covered by COVID-19 relief funds. No teachers were hired as a result.
Hawaii and Houston Trips Also Flagged
CCSD spent more than $23,000 sending eight staffers to Honolulu in September 2023, where the group stayed at the Twin Fin Hotel on Waikiki Beach, the outlet reports. That trip resulted in two hires. A prior, smaller Hawaii trip involving just two recruiters cost approximately $4,600 and led to ten hires, according to the same account — a comparison auditors used to question the value of the larger, costlier trip.
A CCSD recruiter also billed $4,700 for a six-night stay in Houston tied to a fraternity conclave described as a networking event, per the report. Auditors found no outcomes were tracked to justify that trip's benefits, echoing the broader pattern the audit identified across the district's recruitment travel.
District Officials Respond, Point to Policy Changes
CCSD's chief financial officer publicly defended the 2023 Miami trip in February 2024, according to a KLAS 8 News Now account dated February 28, 2024, with district officials maintaining that national recruiting was necessary to fill specialized teaching roles. The district changed its travel policies in October 2024. At the August hearing, CCSD's Dana Crowley said the district now conducts after-action reviews following every recruiting event and reviews them monthly as a department.
Auditors found that CCSD lacks clear requirements for recruitment travel, which they said exposes the district to waste and abuse. In response, CCSD announced it is updating and formalizing its travel guidelines for recruitment-related trips and expanding continuous training for recruitment staff on preventing waste, fraud and abuse.
Relocation Bonuses Also Under Scrutiny
The audit also examined a $4,000 relocation bonus CCSD offered to employees who committed to staying with the district for three years. Of 623 employees offered the bonus, 88 who were paid it left the district before fulfilling the three-year commitment, the findings show.
A District Under Broader Financial Pressure
The travel findings land amid years of state scrutiny into CCSD's finances. Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo formally requested an expanded audit in September 2024 after CCSD sent principals warnings about unexpected budget shortfalls, according to the Nevada Globe. That followed Lombardo's earlier push for broad state audits of Nevada school districts in 2023. Hoodline previously reported on Lombardo's request to expand the CCSD audit at the time.
Around the same period, Nevada State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jhone Ebert sent CCSD leadership a letter seeking accountability and updated budget information. Hoodline also covered that state pressure in an earlier report on demands for budget clarity.
CCSD is the nation's fifth-largest school district, serving roughly 300,000 students across more than 370 campuses with about 19,000 teachers, according to the Las Vegas Sun. Despite the wasteful travel findings, the district's overall staffing picture has improved: CCSD reported just 280 unfilled teaching positions entering the 2025–2026 school year, down from more than 1,000 vacancies in prior years and a peak of over 1,300 vacant positions in 2022, per the Las Vegas Sun.
Salary Raises Drove Broader Staffing Gains
The Las Vegas Sun attributed the staffing turnaround to several factors, including legislative investments, salary increases, incentives, instructional materials and professional development. Compensation changes also included up to $5,000 in additional pay for specified groups.
