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Stay tuned for Schools, The TV Show
By KENT FISCHER © St. Petersburg Times, published August 16, 2000 LAND O'LAKES -- The Pasco County School system may soon have its own cable television channel broadcasting district news, programs and updates into local homes. District administrators have been working on a deal for such a channel with local cable providers for nearly a year, and say the channel could be up and running by January. The district has already set aside $140,000 to pay for the transmitter and engineering needed to start broadcasting. As part of their local franchise agreements, Time Warner Cable and Moffat Communications have set aside channels for local government and public access, including schools, but as of yet, the district has not taken advantage of that option. Many larger districts, such as Pinellas, have had their own channels for years. The project's big stumbling block may center on getting the district's programming into Time Warner's cable system, which does not extend into Land O'Lakes, where the district's central office and television studios are located, said Roger Kaminski, the district administrator in charge of the project. Clearing that hurdle may require the district to buy a transmitter to send its programming to a Time Warner tower in Shady Hills. Time Warner could then distribute the programming to its customers in West Pasco. School Board members, who heard about the plans at a workshop Tuesday night, said they were excited about the prospect of broadcasting educational programs and district updates, such as school closings or bus delays, directly to parents. "More parents probably have cable than subscribe to newspapers," said board member Kathleen Wolf. The project also could allow the district to offer "distance learning" classes, where a teacher in East Pasco could teach a class of students in West Pasco. Kaminski said the cost of operating the channel would be minimal because the district already has the equipment, camera and personnel needed to record the programming. In other district news, the School Board on Tuesday approved new contracts for its teachers and non-instructional employees. The board's approval is contingent upon the rank-and-file approving the deals with a vote on Friday. The teachers contract would grant a 8.22 percent pay raise, which includes a $1,000 bonus that teachers received last Friday. The average teacher could expect to see a $2,700 increase this year. The contract approved for non-teachers grants them a 6.25-percent increase. The board also accepted a recommendation by Superintendent John Long to give a 6.2 percent raise to all employees not covered by either contract, such as administrators and some clerical workers.
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