School police back pay to get look by board

The Clark County School Board on Thursday will consider modifying its union contract with school police officers to include about $1 million in back pay and benefits for the past four years.

Officers would get one-time checks covering their "retro pay," said Michael Rodriguez, a spokesman for the Clark County School District.

The police are collectively owed about $450,034 for a 2 percent cost-of-living increase from 2007-08 and $541,586 for a 4 percent cost-of-living increase from 2008-09.

The terms also would give the group an additional $204,000 in contributions toward their health insurance.

Phil Gervasi, president of the district’s Police Officers Association, said school police are "satisfied we’re getting what everybody else got" since other district employees received similar cost-of-living increases for same time frame.

Like other district employee unions, the police will not be receiving cost-of-living increases for 2009-10 or 2010-11.

Labor negotiations were prolonged by a dispute over whether school police officers should be entitled to the same collective bargaining rules that apply to other police and firefighters. Under Nevada law, police and firefighters have expedited access to binding arbitration to resolve impasses in negotiations.

District Judge Allan Earl in January affirmed a ruling by the Local Government Employee-Management Relations Board, which had sided with school police.

Rodriguez said the district decided not to appeal "in exchange for an agreement to settle these four years of contracts."

The membership of the district’s Police Officers Association ratified the contract Feb. 5.

The district employs 143 police officers. For 2010-11, a school police with officer with five years of experience would earn about $57,000 under the proposed contract. Another agreement must still be negotiated for the 2011-12 school year.