District Administration - August 2007 - (Page 36)

ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE cially responsible” advertisers. Some of the advertisers have marketed entertainment products such as movies, music or video games. Bus Radio has turned down ads for unhealthy foods, such as hamburgers and sugary candy, he says. To ensure the appropriateness of such ads, Bus Radio has established its own content review board, including a child psychologist, superintendents, and District Administration’s associate pub- Clean Programming Ad revenue was not the reason the Cobb County School District signed a contract with Bus Radio in May. The 105,000student district liked the assurance of clean radio programming for students, says Carroll Pitts, the executive director for student transportation. The district’s buses already have AM/ FM systems, but the radio content, including DJ banter and song lyrics, were consid- dards, the district has requested that it be provided a list ahead of time of the companies advertising. The district has also asked to see the music play list 30 days in advance in order to monitor lyrics. “I was satisﬁed with the type of sponsors that they would be using on Bus Radio,” Pitts says. Lessons Learned When the Cherry Creek School District was entering the exterior bus ad market, it opted ﬁrst to slowly roll out the ads on 24 buses to gauge community reaction before expanding it to other buses, Collier recalls. “We went into it with a fairly conservative approach,” he says. “We didn’t want to ﬂood all of our buses. We wanted to make sure that it was well-received by the community before we went too crazy.” The community seems to have accepted the ads as an additional source of revenue dollars. “And we haven’t had any complaints about any of the ads that we’ve actually put on the buses,” Collier adds. Establishing a committee that can review the ads beforehand for content is key, he says. The Colorado Springs School District 11 had to decide whether or not to run the operation in-house or ﬁnd another company when the original advertising company did not renew its contract. The district decided to run the operation in-house, but other districts may ﬁnd it more fruitful to go with a company, given the time that district staﬀ members must spend on coordinating ads. “It’s hard when it’s a part of our job, and your job is multifaceted,” Naleski says. “You just have to have the time to work at it.” Ultimately, the Colorado Springs community appreciates the advertising partnerships as a creative and undemanding source of revenue needed to meet student needs. “They are glad we get our own money,” she says. “They don’t want us to raise their taxes.” DA Kevin Butler is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles. District Administration “I think it would be great if school districts didn’t have to do this and we had all the money we needed.” —Elaine Naleski, spokeswoman, Colorado Springs School District 11 lisher George Halo. If a district deems an ad or song inappropriate for students, Bus Radio can program the computers on the buses not to play the oﬀending material, Shulman says. Bus Radio touts other beneﬁts of the service, including promoting better student behavior on the bus. Besides oﬀering safety messages, the programming also leads to more silence and order as students sit and listen. Riley of the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services says this aspect of the product could have potential. “I think age-appropriate radio which includes both music and commentary that can hold students’ interest could certainly improve student behavior,” he says. The devices also have GPS capabilities that allow districts to track any bus’s location, allowing administrators to have endof-day reports that can be used to check if a bus made it to stops on time or to determine the eﬃciency of certain routes, Shulman says. The newer generation of Bus Radio devices also has an emergency panic button that, when pressed, will automatically call 911 or another designated number. ered so coarse and inappropriate that about two years ago the district banned drivers from listening to the radio when students were present. “In the last few years, the music has gotten so bad that it wasn’t good for students to listen to and parents started complaining,” Pitts says. The district, which will begin using Bus Radio this fall, received positive feedback from drivers and students about the programming during a trial period. To ensure the ads meet district stan- RESOURCES Bus Radio www.busradio.org Cherry Creek School District www.ccsd.k12.co.us Cobb County School District www.cobb.k12.ga.us Colorado Springs School District 11 www.cssd11.k12.co.us Commercial Alert www.commercialalert.org InSight Media www.insightmedia.com Media Advertising in Motion www.mediaadvertisinginmotion.com Ypsilanti Public Schools www.ypsd.org 36 August 2007 http://www.busradio.org http://www.ccsd.k12.co.us http://www.cobb.k12.ga.us http://www.cssd11.k12.co.us http://www.commercialalert.org http://www.insightmedia.com http://www.mediaadvertisinginmotion.com http://www.ypsd.org

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