LANSDALE- At the North Penn School District board meeting on Thursday September 20^th, New Board Policy #2603 which sanctions advertising in the district’s athletic complexes, school buildings, and websites was put to vote and ultimately approved by a 7-2 margin.

A product of the Alternative Revenue Committee, the advertising proposal is an effort to generate supplemental profit to prevent further budget cuts in the difficult economic times. According to school board president Vince Sherpinsky, similar advertising campaigns have been very lucrative for other school districts in our area.

“Some of the other local districts that have been involved in this have generated anywhere from a hundred thousand dollars up to a half a billion dollars, so we’re hopeful,” he said.

The policy states that advertising will be permitted in multiple locations including auditoriums, buses, locker rooms, and yearbooks. However, ads will be prohibited in other areas including offices, libraries, classrooms, and property entrance signs.

Sherpinsky is firm in his belief that this endeavor will be both harmless and profitable.

“We have a pretty stringent policy saying what we will allow and what we won’t allow, and that’s the foundation,” he stated.  “The policy is written pretty sternly so that we won’t have any problems.  We expect it to be a source of revenue without offending anybody or jeopardizing our general admission of education.”

In agreement with Sherpinsky, Superintendent Curt Dietrich is optimistic that the ads will prove to be beneficial to the student body and the North Penn School District as a whole.

“I think in today’s times we have to look at all possible sources of revenue for our school district, and advertising is one that we need to look at closely,” Dietrich explained.  “There are healthy messages that some of the advertisers indicate they’re willing to sponsor. I think they will have a positive impact on reminding students to be healthy or to read their book.”

However, not everyone was in agreement with the approval of this Alternative Revenue initiative.  Both female board members Suzan Leonard and Carolyn Murphy denied their support of the proposal.

Leonard indicated that she actually is in favor of advertising, but she is opposed to the way the bill is written because it allows for ads to be placed within the schools themselves.

“I just don’t think a school district of this caliber needs to be putting billboards where we educate our children,” she articulated. “I’m not opposed to advertising on sports fences, and I’m not opposed to advertising in yearbooks or websites. But when it comes to putting advertising on the walls of our educational institutions, well that’s why I don’t support it.”

Only time will tell if the advertising campaigns will amount to a worthwhile enterprise for the North Penn School District.