95.5 Percent of CCSD Teachers Were Rated Effective or Better, and First-Day Vacancies Were Cut Roughly in Half

by Ryan Rose

What Happened

The CCSD Board of School Trustees met on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. One item on the agenda was a human resources report on employee performance and goals tied to the district's 2026-2031 strategic plan. Trustees accepted it 7-0. The figures below are CCSD's, as reported by Opportunity 180 in its meeting recap, "Nevada Ed-Watch: CCSD 10/29/2026."

Here is how teachers scored for the 2025-26 school year. CCSD evaluated 15,859 teachers under the Nevada Educator Performance Framework:

95.5 percent were rated effective or highly effective.
0.5 percent were rated ineffective or developing.
4 percent were exempt from the full evaluation.

Run the math and that is about 15,145 teachers in the top two groups and about 79 in the bottom two. Those head counts are our own math from the percentages. The recap does not give them.

One detail is missing. The recap combines effective and highly effective into one number, so the split between those two ratings for CCSD: NOT FOUND. That matters, because "effective" and "highly effective" are not the same grade. A district where most teachers sit in the top group looks different from one where most sit one step below it.

School leaders scored a little higher. Of 811 administrators evaluated, 96.7 percent were rated effective or highly effective, 0.1 percent were rated developing, and 3.2 percent were exempt. None were rated ineffective.

The staffing numbers may matter even more to families:

First-day vacancies fell from 348 at the start of 2025-26 to 167 at the start of 2026-27. That is 181 fewer, a drop of about 52 percent.
The fill rate rose from 98 percent to 99 percent.
Licensed special education vacancies fell from 163 to 90. That is 73 fewer, a drop of about 45 percent.

The 167 figure matches what CCSD said on the first day of school. On Aug. 10, Superintendent Jhone Ebert told News 3 Las Vegas, "We have 167 vacancies. So it's a 99% fill rate." News 3 and FOX5 Vegas reported 91 special education openings that day, one more than the 90 in the board report. A one-position gap like that could simply reflect a different count date.

Other staffing items passed that night too. Trustees approved a consent agenda 7-0 that included hiring and dismissal of licensed and support staff. They also voted 7-0 on an agreement with the Education Support Employees Association that changes parts of its 2025-2027 contract. It adds an oral warning as the first formal step in discipline, and it requires 48 hours of written notice before an investigatory interview.

The meeting also drew public comment on teacher surplussing, which is when a school's budget no longer covers a position and that employee has to move. The recap lists the topic but gives no details about what speakers said.

Empty school classroom with rows of desks and blue chairs waiting for a teacher and students

Why It Matters to Las Vegas Residents

Start with the classroom. When a teaching job sits open, the school has to cover it somehow, often with substitutes or other staff. A student can go weeks or months without one steady adult running that class. Fewer openings on day one means fewer kids in that spot. J.D. Smith Middle School in North Las Vegas gave a clear example this August. It had eight teacher vacancies when it opened last year and one this year, and News 3 reported 18 qualified candidates lined up to interview for that one job. That is a very different position for a principal to be in.

Special education deserves a closer look. Even after the drop, those 90 jobs make up about 54 percent of the 167 openings. So more than half of what is left sits in the classes that serve students with disabilities. If your child has an individualized education plan, or IEP, that is the number to watch. Support staff is another gap. CCSD also reported 454 open support jobs in August, including literacy and language intervention specialists, many of them working in special education classrooms. Eight nurse jobs were open, and school police were fully staffed.

Now the ratings. It is fair to look at a 95.5 percent number and compare it with student scores. Trustees accepted that report the same night. It showed high school math proficiency at 22.7 percent and high school reading at 51.3 percent. Elementary math held flat at 39.6 percent. Middle school reading fell from 43 percent to 41.1 percent.

Before anyone draws a straight line between those numbers, know what each one measures. A proficiency score is one test result for a student. A teacher's rating is a yearly review of that teacher's work. Students arrive with very different starting points, and a teacher can do strong work with a child who is still behind grade level. The gap is a fair thing to ask about. It is not proof that teachers are doing a poor job.

For homeowners and renters, schools are part of daily life even if you have no kids at home. Staffing is one of the biggest things a district spends money on, and it shapes how the local campus runs. Buyers also ask about schools all the time. A district that can fill its classrooms is easier to explain to a family moving here from another state.

Background and History

Nevada's rating system goes back to a 2011 state law, AB 222, which told the State Board of Education to set up a statewide way to evaluate educators. State law now calls for four overall ratings: highly effective, effective, developing and ineffective. A 2019 law, SB 475, cut the weight of student outcomes in the evaluation from 40 percent to 15 percent. A 2025 law, SB 460, replaced student learning goals with educational growth goals, which still count for 15 percent. The rest of the score comes from other measures of an educator's work.

High ratings are not new in Nevada. The Nevada Department of Education's 2021 data review shows that in 2015-16, about 99 percent of teachers statewide landed in the top two groups. In 2020-21, it was about 92 percent, with another 7 percent exempt and well under 1 percent in the bottom two. That review is the newest full statewide breakdown we could find, so we cannot say how CCSD's 95.5 percent compares with this year's state average. Current statewide figure: NOT FOUND.

That same state review included responses from 7,752 teachers. Of those, 91 percent said their evaluation was fair, 75 percent said the feedback improved their teaching, and 70 percent said it had an effect on student learning.

Teacher in a white shirt pointing to a whiteboard while students listen from their seats

The vacancy story has a harder side, and it is important to the numbers. In February, CCSD listed 682 licensed employees, 500 support professionals and 64 administrators as surplus for 2026-27. News 3 reported that the district's budget would drop by $50 million across 284 schools this fall, and that CCSD pointed to declining enrollment and higher employee costs. The district also put a temporary freeze on outside hiring to save open jobs for its own staff.

Teachers were worried at the time. "If all the schools are cutting and no one's adding, where are we all going to go?" Thurman White Middle School teacher Christina Radosevich told FOX5. CCSD's chief of human resources, Roanne Triana, said the district was confident it could place "most, if not all of them." Attrition was part of that plan. News 3 reported that 1,552 licensed employees left the district in 2024-25, mainly through retirement.

It also helps to see how the count moved during last school year. CCSD opened 2025-26 with 348 teacher vacancies, and by February it still listed 284 licensed vacancies. If those counts were made the same way, that is 64 fewer by midyear and another 117 fewer by this August.

So when vacancies fall, there are two possible reasons. The district may be filling more jobs, and it may also have fewer jobs to fill. News 3 reported in August that CCSD's overall employee count was lower than in the last two school years. How much of the 181-position drop came from each cause: NOT FOUND in the recap.

What Happens Next

The recap says CCSD's next steps are leadership and HR working together on leader development, a leadership framework and a review of the leadership pipeline. Those are the people who may run schools five or ten years from now. The trustees' next regular meeting is Thursday, Nov. 12, at 5 p.m.

Three things are worth watching this school year. The first is substitutes. CCSD now says it must comply with a 2023 retirement law, SB 434, at an estimated cost of $44 million in back pay and penalties, and most substitutes will be capped at 720 hours a year. CCSD says it does not expect a shortage. But subs are often the people who cover the classes these vacancies leave open, so the two stories are tied together. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Dina Neal, has asked the district to hold off until lawmakers meet in February.

The second is special education hiring. CCSD told News 3 it partners with universities that have strong special education programs and helps current educators earn those certifications. If that works, the 90 should keep falling next August.

The third is next year's budget. CCSD tied this year's surplus process to enrollment and employee costs. If those trends continue, families could see the same cycle in early 2027, with positions moving between schools before anyone knows the final count.

Ryan's Take

I'm glad to see this one. Schools come up in a lot of home searches, and few things matter more to a family than whether a classroom will have a teacher. Going from 348 openings to 167 is good news, even with the fair question about how much came from having fewer positions. I would keep both facts in view and not let either one wipe out the other.

On the ratings, I would be careful in both directions. A high number does not settle whether kids are learning enough, and low test scores do not mean your child's teacher isn't working hard. I don't tell people which school is "good." That is your call, and it depends on your child. I point them to the state data, the assigned school for that address and a visit to the campus. A district number tells you very little about the one classroom your kid will sit in.

For teachers, staying in the district can come down to whether they can afford to live near work. That is the part of this story closest to what I do every day, and it is why the state's buyer programs are worth a look.

Teacher sitting in a classroom and reading a book aloud to a small group of young children

What You Can Do

Ask your school directly. District totals won't tell you what is happening at your campus. School-by-school vacancy numbers were NOT FOUND in the recap, so ask the principal whether any classes are being covered by long-term subs, and whether any special education jobs are still open.

Read the source and speak up. Agendas and reference materials are posted through the CCSD Board of School Trustees page, which also links to live video of meetings. To speak at a meeting, call the Board Office at 702-799-1072 at least eight business hours before it starts, or sign up in person just before the meeting. You get three minutes. Written comments can go to boardmtgcomments@nv.ccsd.net in that same window, and you can reach your trustee through the board contact page.

If you work in education and want to buy, check the state's programs. KTNV reported that Nevada's Worker Advantage Program offers $20,000 in assistance for essential workers, with education among the listed fields. In Clark County, household income can go up to $142,350 and the purchase price can go up to $806,500. It is a 30-year second mortgage with no interest and no payments, it is not forgivable, and it closes once the funds are reserved. The state also has a Home Is Possible for Teachers option. Confirm what is open today with a certified lender, since these programs change.

If you are moving here, look up the assigned schools for any address before you make an offer, because zones can change.

Have questions about how this affects your home or neighborhood? Reach out to Ryan Rose or text/call 702-747-5921 anytime. You can also email ryan@rosehomeslv.com or visit rosehomeslv.com. Ryan Rose | Real Broker, LLC