School board delays settlement in cable channel dispute

Benjamin Grove

Friday, Feb. 27, 1998 | 10:15 a.m.

The School Board has delayed signing an agreement with a Las Vegas cable operator that would help settle disagreements the two have over local channels.

The Federal Communications Commission last year licensed district-owned Channel KLVX, a PBS station, to operate four local cable channels for educational programming.

But as KLVX was preparing to use the channels, station managers discovered that Las Vegas cable operator WANTV, known as Superchannels, was already using the channels to air CNN, USA, Lifetime and TNT to Southern Nevada subscribers.

KLVX accused Superchannels of piracy, but later admitted that both stations may have had FCC rights to broadcast on the channels.

Because KLVX has not been equipment-ready to use the channels, KLVX agreed Superchannels could use the channels through May 1, and pay KLVX $40,000.

Trustees Thursday were scheduled to approve an agreement that would authorize KLVX to give Superchannels the rights to permanently use the four channels. In exchange, Superchannels officials said they would provide special technology, called digital compression, that would allow the district to operate 12 other channels for education programming.

Trustees said they wanted to delay approval to allow other local cable operators a chance to make other proposals.

Also at Thursday's School Board meeting, the union contract for school principals and other administrators was approved.

School principals and other district administrators will get a 3.25 percent raise this school year and next year. The School Board on Thursday ratified the negotiated agreement, the first of four school labor groups to settle with the district.

Administrators will begin getting their pay increase for this year, retroactive to July, on March 25.

The district's 12,500 teachers, 100 school police, and 7,600 support staff, which includes positions such as custodians and secretaries, have yet to settle. Chief district negotiator Edward Goldman offered few details about what was stalling the other negotiations.

All four union negotiations have been described as among the longest in district history. Still, both administrator and district negotiators said their discussions were amicable.

"It just takes time to work out all the details," Goldman said. "Obviously, money is always a sticking point. It's always a give and take process."

The administrators union, which represents 700 of the district's 720 administrators, initially asked for 4.91 percent raise this year and 4 percent next year.

"We had a feeling for what we wanted," said Allin Chandler, executive director of the Clark County Association of School Administrators. "When all was said and done, we felt that the package was fair."