Contract won’t displace school district workers

The Clark County School Board awarded a $306,000 telecommunications contract Wednesday after receiving assurances that the contract would not result in employee layoffs.

However, school district officials and workers said that layoffs could still happen because of the state's ongoing budget crisis and the end of the district's 1998 bond program, which funded new school construction and renovations.

The contract itself is unrelated to employment issues.

"Will staff be displaced (because of the contract)? The answer is no," said Jhone Ebert, the district's chief technology officer.

Morse Communications will provide telephone support services at 71 schools that serve low-income children. As a condition of the federal grant that will cover 90 percent of the cost, the district had to outsource the work.

District workers had complained that the "privatization" was unfair and said that as many as 10 employees in the telecommunications department could lose their jobs by June 30, the end of the fiscal year.

"I'll be gone by June; I'm the new guy with 21 years experience," said Scott Young, a telecommunications technician who alluded to the district's seniority rules.

Young also contended that the district will be paying a private contractor more money for many of the same services that district employees have provided.

Bo Yealy, president of the Educational Support Employees Association, called the contract a "big mistake."

But federal reimbursement dollars will more than make up any increased expenses with Morse Communications, district officials said. Ebert estimated the district's annual cost at $30,600 or $36 a month per school.

The district eliminated four telecommunication positions for the current year because of budget shortfalls, officials said.

The School Board approved the contract 6-1, with School Board member Larry Mason casting the only dissenting vote.