DOE backs plan to allow limited ads on school campuses

The state is considering policy changes that would allow advertising in public schools, as long as it promotes a positive message and doesn’t show up in classrooms or teaching materials.

Hawaii’s Department of Education has recommended allowing limited advertising — including signage on campuses — as a way to help cash-strapped schools seek additional private funding.

Under the proposed amendments, advertising "must be consistent with the mission of public schools," Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi said in a memo to the board Tuesday. "For example, a company might want to say … ‘Congratulations, graduates,’ along with their logo."

The discussion comes as schools nationwide are turning to advertising as a way to supplement budgets. For example, many Pennsylvania schools recently signed an advertising contract worth more than $420,000 that allows ads that promote a positive message to be posted on school grounds. One such ad, on organizational skills, was paid for by Post-It Notes.

At its meeting Tuesday the Hawaii Board of Education’s Finance and Infrastructure Committee generally supported the DOE’s interest in pursuing advertising but urged the department to make the proposed changes to the policy specific and clear.

The committee also asked the department to consider how it planned to approve or veto advertising contracts with schools and ensure that every advertisement meets the new policy guidelines.

The issue was deferred for further review.

Changes to the ad policy — which now bans advertising in schools — must be approved by the board.

BOE member Brian DeLima, a member of the committee, said schools certainly need money and that advertising could allow campuses to create solid partnerships with businesses.

But, he added, "we should not rush this through."

Kim Gennaula, also a member of the committee, said she was "conflicted" on the issue because she sees the need for additional revenue for schools but also is concerned about ads on campus.

Gennaula suggested the department take a "PBS approach," giving corporations the chance to sponsor specific messages for students.

"This is definitely a national trend," said Josh Golin, associate director of the Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, which opposes advertising in schools.

In New Jersey, schools are being allowed to put advertising on school buses for the first time this year. And some schools in California are being allowed to post corporate signs.

The issue of commercialism in Hawaii schools last surfaced in March, when Garrett Toguchi, chairman of the then-elected Board of Education, proposed changes to the advertising policy to help schools that were struggling to cope with mounting budget cuts.

A similar idea in 2005 was quickly quashed.

If the new push moves forward, it’s expected to meet opposition from several local groups, including the Outdoor Circle.

Golin, of Commercial-Free Childhood, said schools should be advertising-free "because you have a captive audience." He added, "There’s a reason why the schools in Hawaii didn’t think advertising was a good thing up until this point."

On Tuesday the DOE discussed the changes proposed by the previous Board of Education but said it would need to figure out how to ensure those guidelines were followed at schools.

"Clearly, we need some procedures," said Randy Moore, assistant superintendent for facilities and support services at the DOE.

Moore added that the department polled its complex-area superintendents, and about half said the advertising should be allowed, while the other half said the policy would work as long as the department ensures schools fully understand the rules.

DOE officials also stressed their proposal strictly limits advertising to noninstructional areas, such as hallways, libraries that aren’t used for teaching, school websites or visual media.

And they pointed out that though schools currently cannot benefit from advertising, there are plenty of ads in schools. "There is already an abundance of corporate names and logos on reams of paper, computers, pencils, etc.," Matayoshi said in her memo.