Nevada subcommittee reviews 'grad score' and options for redefining at‑risk funding

The State Board of Education''s subcommittee on at‑risk funding spent its meeting reviewing legislative guidance and budget closings and debating whether to keep, replace or refine the "grad score" method the state used to identify students eligible for at‑risk funding.

The discussion centered on two linked facts: the Legislature and the budget used the grad score to set funding for the 2025–26 school year, and any change the board adopts cannot be operationalized until a later fiscal year once new October 1 data are pulled and validated.

Deputy Superintendent Peterson outlined the immediate fiscal constraint: "for the purposes of the budget development and implementation ... the grad score would be used for funding purposes for the fiscal year '26," and any alternative metric could be used beginning in fiscal year '27 only after the department established and validated a new count. She warned that the October 1 data pull and subsequent validation process typically require weeks to months and that the department must model changes before they become effective.

Why it matters: the grad score''a proprietary algorithm applied to Infinite Campus records''reduced the number of pupils counted as at risk this biennium, producing a substantially smaller funding pool than prior years. That drop, participants said, affects planning for districts and charters and constrains what the board can reallocate for FY27 unless the Legislature or budget process adjusts funding.

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