KVHS The Edge
The future of high school radio station KVHS in Concord, California has been up in the air following Clayton Valley High School’s conversion to a charter school.
According to the agenda for the August 27, 2012 Mount Diablo Unified School District board meeting, a scheduled action item for this Monday’s meeting is a “recommendation for limited use of radio station KVHS-FM 90.5…and radio classroom…at Clayton Valley Charter High School during 2012-13 school year…”
The board meeting agenda also states that the district was “recently approached by KQED for a possible purchase of the station.” When asked to confirm this, KQED’s Executive Director of Communications Scott Walton told me, “It would be inappropriate for KQED to comment until after the meeting of the school district.” San Francisco public radio station KQED currently broadcasts at 88.5 FM in San Francisco and at 89.3 FM in Sacramento, as well as over translators serving Martinez, Benicia, and Santa Rosa.
According to the board meeting agenda,
“The District will need to have a professional assessment performed to determine the value of the noncommercial license we own. In the interim, staff proposes that CVCHS be allowed to use the classroom S-2 and radio station pursuant to all rules of our FCC non-commercial license for the 2012-13 school year…”
The text of the board meeting action item also makes it clear that the school district holds the license for KVHS and provides details about what would happen to the radio program if a sale is to occur. The agenda states,
“The District retains full ownership of the station during CVCHS use. In the event that discussions with KQED or another buyer make a sale appear imminent, the District would then give CVCHS 90 days’ notice of the sale. This 90 days’ notice period would allow CVCHS to secure another location and studio facilities to finish the remainder of the 2012-13 school year. If no sale of the station occurs, the District may decide to move the radio program to another site for the 2013-14 school year.”
KVHS began as a campus-only radio station in 1964 and received its FM non-commercial license in 1969. The station currently branded as “The Edge,” airs a mostly rock format, as well as specialty music shows and public affairs programming. Up until this year, students joined KVHS as part of a local Regional Occupational Program. The Radio Communications Class was open to high school students 16 years old and older, as well as to residents of Contra Costa County.
KVHS flyer (Photo credit: Save KVHS)
People concerned about the future of the station have created the website Save KVHS, which includes a petition calling for the school district to maintain the station. A post on the Save KVHS website from July states, “We are working to keep one of the best programs offered to high school & college students in Contra Costa County going.”
The August 27th board meeting will be held at 6:30pm in the Mount Diablo Unified School District board room at 1936 Carlotta Drive in Concord. The meeting will also be broadcast live over KVHS 90.5 FM and on the KVHS netcast. There will be an opportunity for public comments at the meeting.
