District Administration - August 2007 - (Page 34)

ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE pictured also featured a banner liquor ad. In response to the district’s feedback, the newspaper “provided an alternative ad that didn’t have that, and everything was ﬁne,” Collier recalls. Inside the Bus Administrators in Michigan’s Ypsilanti Public Schools, near Detroit, are looking to the interior of their ﬂeet of buses for advertising revenue. In the 2005-2006 school year the district began an association with advertising company InSight Media, which provides school districts with 11-inch by 25-inch ads that are placed above bus windows. The roughly 4,000-student district sought out the additional revenue because of tough ﬁscal times tied to Michigan’s poor economic climate, says district spokeswoman Emma Jackson. Like Cherry Creek, the Ypsilanti district established an ad content review board, which has approved ads for a health clinic, credit union and cell phone provider, she says. InSight Media, which serves about eight school districts in Pennsylvania and Michigan, shares 40 percent of ad revenue with school districts, says president Brian Ungar. If districts contract out transportation, the contractor and district negotiate how to divide the 40 percent. InSight Media asks districts to set up a committee to screen the ads. Credit unions, doctors, orthodontists and a cellular service provider are some of the company’s advertisers. The district so far has received less than $2,000 in ad revenue, but Jackson hopes the revenue will increase as advertisers become more aware of the option. “This is a new idea to Michigan, and I think you have to introduce the idea and let people chew on it a little bit,” she says. Despite the touted potential of bus advertising, many districts so far have not seen signiﬁcant ad revenue, says Bob Riley, executive director of the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transporta34 August 2007 Ad for a news show in the Cherry Creek, Colo., schools area. tion Services. “The people who sell it claim that it will be successful, but to this point, it has not been successful,” he says. Ungar says that many advertisers aren’t yet educated about the bus ad option. “Our media has not been around long enough to become mainstream and therefore has some challenges because it’s unproven according to some,” he says. “All indications are that the media will, and does work.” Ungar stresses that ads can contain positive messages, such as a credit union encouraging students to save money. In response to critics, Ungar notes that students are exposed to inappropriate ads on television, the Internet and on bill- that a state directive banned bus ads. The decision was reversed within days because no current policy prohibits the ads, according to Capt. Robert Powers, commander of the police’s traﬃc safety division. The Michigan Department of Education is developing guidelines regarding bus ads, but the guidelines are advisory and do not ban ads. The episode demonstrates why districts should carefully examine state policies before embarking on a bus advertising campaign. Handling its Own Ads In the 2006-2007 school year, the Colorado Springs School District 11—which in 1993 became the ﬁrst district in the na- “This is a new idea to Michigan, and I think you have to introduce the idea and let people chew on it a little bit.” —Emma Jackson, spokeswoman, Ypsilanti (Mich.) Public Schools boards that they can see anywhere else. In contrast, Jackson says, the school bus ads have been well received by the community. “We just didn’t hear a strong outcry against engaging in this contract,” she says, “because I think most parents are just concerned about the state of our schools, and if they see and understand that any income coming in is going to help keep our programs and staﬀ in place, that would be their preference.” The Ypsilanti school district experienced a confusing episode early last month when a bus inspector with the Michigan State Police mistakenly told the district tion to implement school bus ads—took over the ad operation after the company that had previously handled it chose not to renew its contract. It was not making enough money, says district spokeswoman Elaine Naleski. District advertising operations go beyond exterior bus ads to include the receipt of in-kind services, such as an electronic scoreboard that advertises several businesses that helped pay for the device. In exchange for thousands of dollars or in-kind contributions, the district also could oﬀer ads in school publications, thank-you notices in newspapers, logos on the district’s Web District Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - August 2007

Contents
Editor’s Letter
Letters
News Update
Technology Update
Curriculum Update
Inside the Law
Research Corner
Computer Literature
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Bus Money
DIBELS Draws Doers & Doubters
Report from EduComm 2007
Ins and Outs of Outsourcing
Curriculum Clearance
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
New Products
Problem Solution
Online Edge
Speaking Out
Professional Opinion
Calendar of Events
Understanding the Times

District Administration - August 2007