Consistency in student enrollment trends and instructional support continues to be an ongoing conversation, Carson City School Superintendent Andrew Feuling indicated in his State of the District address Tuesday.
Feuling reported to school board members Carson’s general demographic trends mean declining enrollment in schools. Enrollment tracking is important because state funding is partly determined by the number of students.
Birth rates have declined and the region is seeing fewer students from new construction and decreased housing affordability. Carson City’s enrollment was 6,100 in 1990 and 6,884 this year. The historical high was 8,558 in 2002-03.
“When we do have new construction, and as you see all around us, there’s a lot of construction around Carson City,” Feuling said. “But we are not seeing young families moving into a lot of that that are bringing kids into the district.”
Of note, Feuling said the Hispanic and special education populations have grown. In 10 years, CCSD has gone from a 41.9% Hispanic population to 48.8%. In 2024-25, 13.1% of students were English learners and 12.8% were enrolled in the district’s Individualized Education Program, or special education, relatively lower than Nevada’s rates of 14.4% and 14.2% respectively.
On the staffing side, CCSD has 939 total staff, broken down by 503 certified, 388 classified, 27 school administrators and 21 district or non-represented members. The general fund is 87.5% staffing costs within the schools and 12.5% outside, including transportation, maintenance, grounds, warehouse and operations and the district office and Professional Development Center.
Feuling noted the state’s average costs of 49.4% in expenditures for instructional personnel. By comparison, Carson City outranks other districts at 52% in spending for teachers. It comes in at a very close second at 13% compared to Washoe County School District’s 13.2% for instructional support positions such as paraprofessionals and counselors, Feuling said.
Between state and federal funding, CCSD’s budget considerations in staffing point to its priority for quality classroom instruction, he said.
“It goes back to, where is the district putting its funding? Where are we putting our financial resources into? We’re trying to get them into the schools,” he said.
In academic progress, student proficiency rates in the English language arts and math for 2024-25 have slightly improved over the previous year among elementary, middle and high schools, but Feuling made clear this data does not mean students can read. For example, elementary ELA levels went up from 38.5% in 2023-24 to 40.6% in 2024-25.
“It (means) 40.6% of your kids are effectively at grade level meeting or exceeding the expectations, right?” Feuling said. “There are kids out there that we are working intensively with, you know, to that point. But they are reading. They’re just not reading up to that level.”
More students are taking Advanced Placement exams, a consistent growth from 2021 when there were 256 students taking 507 exams in all to 406 students last year who took a total of 727 exams. Pass rates, which are scores of 3, also went up from 153 in 2021 to 319 last year. Feuling said this pass rate data exceeds global averages.
“I think (it’s) the idea that they’re in it to win it when they’re in these classes,” he said.
JumpStart’s pass rate was 97.21%, and the program’s Hispanic participation rate has increased from 31.29% to 40.5% in the past three years, speaking to the district’s growing diversity and newer work for English learners, Feuling said.
Trustee Michelle Pedersen told the Appeal after Feuling’s address she was glad Carson City continues working to prioritize student achievement while remaining fiscally responsible.
“I appreciate the abundance of data and transparency in Superintendent Feuling’s presentation,” she said. “As budget is a high concern right now, I was very pleased to learn that, out of the entire state of Nevada, Carson City has the highest percentage of our budget going toward instruction (52%) while keeping leadership costs to a state low of 5.5%. I am proud to represent a district with such a clear focus on the classroom and student success.”
