What are their options? Sell the lockers to AT &T , the gym to Coke, the arts program to Clear Channel. I wonder if AT & T, Coke, or Clear Channel will ever need intelligent consumers for the future of their companies, or simply manipulated consumers to support their companies future. Please start a discussion if you have something to say, the comments box is a great place to be heard! -ed
source: Press Democrat
Santa Rosa City Schools moved a step closer Wednesday to adopting a policy that would allow companies and sponsors to pay for naming rights to buildings and educational programs.
Board members informally endorsed a plan that could allow business to pay for sponsorships in exchange for posted signs, announcements or “other reasonable means,” according to the draft proposal.
“It’s a budget issue,” said board member Wally Lowry of the board’s unanimous support for moving forward. No member of the public spoke in opposition to the plan. The board is expected to take up the issue again at its Sept. 9 meeting.
The district already has cut $8 million from its budget and is expecting to slice about $5.6 million more next year.
The district does not know how much money it could pull in through sponsorships and naming rights, but the policy could help fund grants that require matching local funds, according to Nancy Miller, director of Career Pathways and community outreach for the district.
Earlier this month, board members had questioned how proposals would be reviewed, but on Wednesday, those questions seemed to be largely answered.
“The board will be the absolute authority,” Miller said. “We would not accept any sponsorships that were in opposition to any of the policies that we currently have as a district.”
Trustee Frank Pugh called the proposal “comprehensive, yet flexible.”
In the past, board members have said sponsorships on campuses already exist to a degree — in signs that line sports fields and are affixed to scoreboards.
Lowry said marketing minds could come up with creative ways to get their company’s name in front of the public, including patches affixed to the uniforms of sports teams, buying placards on classroom or theater chairs, sponsoring events and even renaming buildings — for a price.
“If it were a building, we’re talking millions,” he said.
Board president Donna Jeye said the plan is especially relevant for career technical programs that already partner with business interests.
“I think in order for us to have a top career technical program, we have to include the business community,” she said.
Board members already have expressed some anticipation of thorny issues such as weighing proposals between a local company and a corporate giant or competing local companies.
“We’ll have to consider all ramifications of our decisions as the situations come before us,” Jeye said.
Lowry said he supports staying local with the deals but said in tough budget times there is a bottom line to consider.
“My preference would be for local, but the big money won’t be local,” he said.
Trustees Bill Carle and Laura Gonzalez were absent Wednesday.
Staff Writer Kerry Benefield writes an education blog at extracredit.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.
She can be reached at 526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com
