School Board to Consider Corporate Advertising in Schools

The Manatee County School Board is expected get an update today on a proposal to allow corporations to help underwrite education. While the money won’t plug the looming budget gap, it might be enough to save art and music from the axe.

Tricia Powers, the development director for the Manatee Education Foundation, briefed the school board on November 28.

“The program is simple, and no cost to the district,” she said. “It’s a risk-free opportunity.”

Powers was talking about a plan to work with the Educational Funding Partners, a B-class corporation headquartered in Denver. B-Class is a new corporate category that several states authorized in the past few years. The objective of these B-corporations is to pass out money for social good.

Educational Funding Partners (EFP) is chartered in Colorado, one of the first states to authorize B-class corps. EFP “bundles” school districts and then search for corporations who want to advertise to those districts.

“It’s not interested in Manatee County Schools, they’re too small,” said David Voss who works with the EFP. “It could be bundled with others to gain greater exposure. And Manatee County will get a share based on enrollment.”

Voss estimated a deal could bring in $10-12 dollars per student. With an enrollment of more than 30,000 students, the money won’t close the spending gap, but would add significantly to the budget.

EFP doesn't put together the deals just to benefit the schools. They also get a share of the advertising revenues. The company has propsed a three-year contract with the Manatee County school district.

 “They have a 80/20 split,” Powers said.

Once EFP has a “bundle” of schools, they make their pitch to major corporations across the country.

“Large corporation sponsorships are in the multi-millions,” said Voss. “It’s a new pot of money. In the past, it was local or regional sponsorships.”

Orange County schools picked up $75,000 from a CVS Pharmacy campaign to encourage people to get flu shots. “It was a positive message,” said Voss.

Powers says the school district has veto-power over any corporate message. “The district would have full approval rights,” she told the school board.

While it is not the only solution to the budget woes, the money could be a life preserver in a financial storm.

“In two years there will be no art or music  in our schools,” said school board member Barbara Harvey, who also fears physical education could be cut. “We need to look at ways to bring funds into our schools, a way of supplementing them.”

Other school board members were less enthusiastic. Julie Aranibar said, “I want to see the contract. What information do they want on our students, what are they tracking?”

For decades local businesses paid to hang signs on local outfields and end zones. RFP wants to take that idea to a more sophisticated level.

“This gets us out of the local level to the national corporations,” said District Superintendent Tim McGonegal. 

School Board Chair Harry Kinnan said he wants a comprehensive list of the corporate money the district receives.

“All high schools have signage on the baseball fields," he said. "Every high school in the county has their scoreboard sponsored. Lockheed-Martin gives us $100,000 per year.”