At last Tuesday’s school board meeting, the Richland School District Board gave its unofficial blessing to a plan that would bring advertising into the classroom as a way to help fund the TV department. You can read the board meeting recap (download the Jan. 27th PDF), which includes this explanation of what happened at the meeting:

Board reviewed the District’s advertising policy. The discussion focused specifically on whether schools with morning announcement cable shows should be able to obtain sponsors for those programs. Board members agreed that brief sponsor messages should be allowed. Revenues collected from sponsors will be used to help fund the school’s TV department.

I followed up via email with Steve Aagaard, the District’s Communications Manager, to learn more about this. Steve explained that the discussion was about allowing Hanford High School to go out and find sponsors to help fund the school’s TV department. He said that he thinks all three middle schools also have cablecast programs, so it would be up to the teachers in those classes to decide if they want to pursue sponsors. (In other words, it sounds like this would be happening at the high school and middle school levels.)

As far as the advertising itself, Steve told me it wouldn’t be in the form of 30-second TV commercials, but more like you hear on PBS shows: “This program is funded in part by Lamb Weston” is the example Steve shared.

What Happens Next?

The board gave its blessing Tuesday to begin making the new advertising policy official. Steve explained it this way: “We will be incorporating it into policy revisions in the coming weeks and then the board will officially OK the policy.”

My Opinion

School scoreboards often have sponsor logos on them. Schools often have vending machines inside with huge Coke or Pepsi advertisements on them. You might see a food/drink company logo on garbage cans in the cafeteria. I know there’s advertising in schools.

I just don’t think it should be in the classroom. The classroom should be a place where kids can concentrate on learning and growing, and not have to deal with distractions like advertising. Sure, the type of advertising Steve Aagaard describes above is pretty harmless. But this is a slippery slope. If this is okay, what’s next? What if McDonald’s offers money to put its logo above the lunch menu chart in each classroom? Is that okay?

I know times are tough. Money is tight. Funding is in jeopardy. Costs are going up. But there must be better, smarter ways to fund a TV department than turning our kids into a target for advertisers as they sit at their desks inside the classroom. I hope the Richland School District reconsiders this decision.

What do you think about advertising in the classroom? Please leave a comment below!

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