Taking a cue from professional sports, Carroll County will now allow banner advertisements at school sports stadiums.
“It?s going to enable the schools to get more money in hand to try to solve” fundraising needs, said Gary Bauer, president of Carroll?s Board of Education, which unanimously approved the banners Wednesday night. “When kids sell candy, those companies always take a percentage, so you never get that full amount. I think this is a better process.”
School booster clubs and athletic teams will sell the ads.
Some members have raised questions about whether the ads would make schools too commercial.
To prevent students from being bombarded with corporate messages and logos, the board adopted guidelines that set size restrictions and require banners to display a message about the school and a line at the bottom naming the sponsor, Bauer said.
“We wanted to have some control over what the banners look like so you don?t have something that?s gaudy or really intrusive like what you see at the Orioles? stadium,” he said.
Businesses that advertise tobacco or drugs or use obscenities will be prohibited from buying a banner.
“It will be local businesses mostly from the community who want to show their support for the schools,” Bauer said.
The ads will be sold for $500 or $1,000.
In 2005, the school system tried a pilot banner ad program that raised about $17,000 for Francis Scott Key High School, board member Patricia Gadberry said.
Across the state
Other public schools in Maryland, including those in Howard County, already allow advertising at their stadiums.
