Schools

District May Hire Co. to Seek Advertising Potential

And the district is redoing its radon studies.

The Board of Education is still considering the possibilities of advertising on district-owned property—and it is preparing to award a contract to a company to investigate.

According to Business Administrator Peter Starrs, the finance committee recently heard a presentation to award a contract for identifying district assets that could be used for community corporate sponsorships. The contract will be on the agenda for approval at the March 27 meeting.

“The next step at the board meeting is an action item to enter into a contract for $12,500,” he said. “This would call for them to do an asset investigation at the middle school and high school to get a concept for the possibilities for advertising in the district.”

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“Then it’s up to the board to say yay or nay for advertising,” he added. “The board has total control over the advertising that would be done.”

If advertising is approved, Starrs said, 80 percent of the revenue would go to the district.

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“But this initial step does not say we will have advertising, it just gives us a picture of what the possibilities are,” he said.

Board member Arvind Mathur asked if the company is being provided with limitations on where advertising can be done, but Starrs said it makes more sense for the company to do a full analysis so the board gets its money’s worth.

From there, the board can decide if it agrees with where advertising has been suggested.

In addition, the district is rushing to move forward with a radon study in all its buildings in response to concerns from residents about the levels in the schools following a recent segment on an episode of the "Today Show." Board of Education Vice President Patrick Breslin said the last study was done in 2004, and the district was in good shape.

“At that time, the point value of concern at the state level was 4.1 or above, and at that time, most of the district offices and rooms were under 2,” he said. “We were in extremely good shape.”

Breslin said the facilities committee has decided it is not a bad thing to redo the study.

“We are rushing to get the proposals so we can get it done before the weather changes too much,” he said. “Most tests should be done in colder periods of the year, so we are trying to move as quickly as possible to execute on that.”

The district is also, Breslin said, looking toward repairs of the and school roofs through the capital reserves fund. Contracts have not yet been awarded.


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