Brevard School Board and School Advertisements

School Board members for the Brevard School District are discussing the possibility of allowing advertisements to be featured inside of the school buildings, in certain areas, which would include the cafeterias, the hallways, and the different libraries in each of the schools. Of course, advertising would not be allowed in the classroom but by allowing advertisements to take place in different areas like the cafeteria, the school district will be able to generate revenue that will help to make up for a lot of the money lost due to budget cuts and the lack of state funding.

Just a few days ago, the board members voted a 4-1 vote in favor of holing a public hearing, which has been set for the 12^th of June, to discuss the policy that would be put in place for these advertisements. Only one board member, Karen Henderson, opposed the public hearing for the policy. Another board member, Andy Ziegler, says that it is important to find a way to fund all sorts of programs for the student, which includes sports and other types of clubs and activities that provide enrichment to the students. Ziegler says that with the shortfall of state funding, it is important to find other ways of generating revenue to make up for the loss.

With the policy set in place, there would be a limit as to where the advertisements could be placed. However, Henderson was concerned and felt that just because advertisements help to generate revenue does not mean that is a good idea to allow such a thing into a school, with hundreds of different students to see on a daily basis. She said she would not mind seeing the advertisements outside of the school but is strongly against them being inside the school building. Henderson believes that inside the school, it should be strictly about education, no advertising allowed. She feels it is not her job or the job of anyone else in the school to work on advertising instead of educating. Some of the officials pointed out that advertising has already taken place inside a few of the schools but has been limited.

The Chair of the School Board, Barbara Murray, says that she thinks it is crucial to put a policy into place because at this very moment, there is no policy set and there aren’t any guidelines either. She wants a policy to be set so that everyone knows and understand what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. She also wants it to be clear that advertisements featuring tobacco or alcohol products would not be allowed anywhere within the school.

The Brevard School District is not the first school district to go with the possibility of advertising within the school, as many other school districts are doing this as a way of generating revenue to make up for budget cuts.