School police, district reach tentative deal

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, Sept. 2, 1998 | 10:55 a.m.

Clark County School District Police are closer to narrowing the gap between their salaries and the paychecks other area police officers receive.

The 107-officer school police force reached a tentative contract agreement with district officials Monday, said chief school police negotiator Sgt. Phil Gervase. The school board must give it final approval, likely to be Sept. 10.

Gervase said the agreement was a four-year deal retroactive to 1997. He said the pay raises were about the same as increases the district's three other unions negotiated for this year -- which amounts to about 5 percent in combined salary and benefits raises.

Gervase said 76 of the union's 90 members voted, and all voted to approve the agreement.

"We worked out a deal we could all live with," Gervase said. "It's a good money package. We're closer to our goals."

School police, gun-carrying, police-academy trained officers who have powers of arrest and citation, have been lobbying to earn the same salaries as Metro Police, North Las Vegas Police and Henderson Police officers. School police have started at $25,078 a year; Metro Police have started at about $36,000, Gervase said.

The district's chief negotiator, Edward Goldman, would not comment on the police contract until the board approves it.

District officials also are wrapping up negotiations with its teacher, administrator and support staff unions.

The teachers union, the Clark County Classroom Teachers Association, finalized an agreement in August. The longest talks ever between teachers and the district resulted in a 4.25 percent pay raise retroactive for the 1997-98 school year, plus a 0.75 hike in insurance benefits. They got a 3 percent pay raise for the current 1998-99 year. Teachers also got a 0.25 percent one-time bonus.

The support staff and administrator unions had agreed to other terms earlier in the year -- a 3.25 percent salary increase, 0.25 percent for their retirement plans and a 1 percent bonus for 1997-98. They got a 3.25 percent salary increase plus a 1 percent bonus for this school year.

This week, those two unions are trying to renegotiate their deals to get small increases that match the teacher deal.

"What we are looking at is a small amount of money -- less than 1 percent -- to bring us in line with what the teachers got," said Allin Chandler, executive director of the Clark County Association of School Administrators.