Bill would allow school districts to sell ad space on Web sites
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By JAMES KING
Cronkite News Service
FOUNTAIN HILLS (Thursday, Feb. 26) _ Facing cuts in state funding, the Fountain Hills Unified School District is hoping its Web site can make up some of that money.
Tim Leedy, assistant superintendent of business and support services, wants to sell area businesses ad space to reach those who follow the district’s Web site, which has attracted more than 100,000 hits since July.
“The whole idea is to have some kind of vehicle where the local economy benefits,” he said.
Because state law only allows districts to sell ad space on buses, Leedy sought help from Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Scottsdale. The result, HB 2437, won approval Feb. 23 from the House Education Committee and was heading to the floor by way of the Rules Committee.
In addition to allowing public school districts to sell ad space on their Web sites, the bill would allow districts to put the revenue toward programs that otherwise would be cut due to a lack of funds. At present, districts in the greater Phoenix area must put revenue from bus advertising toward energy conservation.
“It’s a win-win situation,” Kavanagh said. “The schools are getting the money they desperately need to make up for the money they have lost, and businesses get the exposure of all the people who use the site.”
Of the 286 school districts in Arizona, about half operate Web sites, according to the House briefing document on Kavanagh’s bill.
Retha Hill, director of the New Media Innovation Lab at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, said a school Web site’s audience is about as tailored as an advertiser could hope for.
“School Web sites are a sweet spot for the 25-to-49-year-old demographic,” said Hill, former vice president of BET Interactive, the online unit of Black Entertainment Television. “The people checking a school lunch menu are the same people who are buying houses and minivans.”
However, Hill said it’s important for a Web site frequented by children to be careful about its content.
The bill would forbid ads promoting anything that’s illegal for minors, such as alcohol, tobacco, drugs or gambling. Ads would have to comply with the state’s abstinence-education policy.
“The ads won’t be in the classroom, which is something that has been somewhat controversial in the past,” Kavanagh said. “It’s a good plan that poses no threat to the children.”
Rep. Eric Meyer, D-Paradise Valley, who serves on the Scottsdale Unified School District’s governing board, voted for Kavanagh’s bill in committee but noted in an interview that selling ad space on his district’s buses has been only a mild success.
“The program was successful because it brought in money but didn’t come close to solving the budget problems,” Meyer said.
According to the bill, revenue generated from the ads will go into an Internet advertising fund that could be used for any student-related purpose as determined by a district’s governing board.
Addressing the House Education Committee, Mike Smith, a representative of the Arizona School Administrators Association, said revenue from Web ads should have an understood purpose.
“‘Shall be used for any pupil-related costs’ makes me nervous by the broadness of the language,” he said.
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Web Link:
_ Fountain Hills Unified School District: www.fountainhillsschools.org
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CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-SCHOOLS-ADS: Tim Leedy, assistant superintendent of business and support services for the Fountain Hills Unified School District, wants to sell area businesses ad space to reach those who follow the district’s Web site, which has attracted more than 100,000 hits since July. (Cronkite News Service Photo/James King)