Novato Unified School District Extends Mutually Beneficial Contract With Comcast

Press release from the Novato Unified School District:

March 4, 2021

(Novato, CA) … The Novato Unified School District Board of Trustees announced the approval of a contract extension with Comcast for the San Marin Ground Lease Agreement to December 31, 2030. In exchange for allowing the Comcast cable company’s ongoing use of a very small portion of the San Marin High School property, NUSD received fiber optic cable strands at all its school sites and other properties.

“Our ongoing partnership with Comcast is mutually beneficial. In exchange for a long-standing easement on our property, NUSD receives access to high quality fiber optic cable to support each of our sites. The estimated benefit of this agreement to NUSD is estimated at $200,000 annually, or approximately $2,000,000 over the ten years of the contract. We appreciate this ongoing partnership that meets the needs of both NUSD and Comcast,” comment Superintendent Kris Cosca.

On December 1, 1997, NUSD entered into a Ground Lease Agreement with Comcast of Novato (formerly Novato Cable Company dba Chambers Cable of Novato). This Agreement provided for the cable company to use a small section of the San Marin High School campus as a telecommunications receiving station.

In 2011, the NUSD and Comcast extended the term of the agreement to December 31, 2020, including the right to extend the term for two additional periods of five years, if mutually agreed to in writing.

On October 6, 2020, the Board approved a five-year extension through December 31, 2025 and the two sides continued negotiations to potentially extend the agreement further, due to the mutual benefit for both parties. In early February, the sides came to an agreement to extend the agreement an additional five years until December 31, 2030.

This press release was produced by the Novato Unified School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.