The board of the Davenport Community School District on Monday failed to pass a measure that would have added advertisements to scoreboards at Brady Street Stadium and baseball fields and basketball courts at the district's three high schools.
The measure, a contract with All Iowa Score Tables LLC, failed on a 3-3 vote, with one abstention. A motion by board member Dan Portes to re-consider the vote also failed, because nobody seconded it.
The vote was surprising because only one board member - Richard Clewell - actively opposed the agreement.
The plan would have given the school district a portion of the revenues from advertising at the various sports venues. In the first year, the district would get no money (for the company to recoup the expense of new scoreboards), but it would receive 40 percent in years two and three, and 50 percent in years four, five, and six. According to a proposal from All Iowa Score Tables, the company would need 44 advertisers to fill advertising spaces at the various locations. Neither the proposal nor the agreement says how much money the district could expect to get through the arrangement.
Although the agreement would have had no financial cost for the school district, Clewell argued that the board would be "trading credibility for access" by allowing advertising at school sports venues. "This is an ethical decision reflecting the integrity and dignity of the district," he said.
He bemoaned "the toxic environment we present to our children" and said the scoreboard ads would be an attempt to "develop brand loyalty" among Davenport's schoolchildren.
Clewell also noted that the school district has no policy or plan for managing advertising in schools.
That last point doomed the proposal. Board members Alan Guard and Katie Hanson voted against the agreement but suggested a board policy on advertising would have changed their votes. "We need to have some kind of policy to guide us," Guard said. "I have no problem with the agreement per se. I do have a problem that we don't have a policy."
"We haven't had the opportunity to talk about a plan ... or where our line is, our limit," Hanson echoed.
Clewell had brought up the possibility of a district advertising policy at a previous committee of the whole meeting, and Guard told the River Cities' Reader that he was surprised the agreement came before the school board without one. Currently, the agreement gives the administration final say on all advertising, but Guard said the board should have some input - either in crafting a policy or in approving individual ads.
Guard added that he was hesitant about the six-year term of the agreement, and the fact that the district didn't ask for proposals from All Iowa Score Tables' competitors, if there are any.
But he said that the lack of a policy was the deciding factor in his vote this week. "If there's a policy in place, they know where my vote is," he said.
All Iowa Score Tables would have 60 days from the approval of an agreement to secure advertising before putting up the new scoreboards and wanted them ready for football season, so there is some need for board action soon. "We can get this done if we really want to," Guard said.
Guard Questions Letter from Garfield School
Also at Monday's meeting, Guard distributed a memo in which he questioned a letter sent to Garfield parents inviting them to have their students attend Sudlow - instead of J.B. Young - intermediate school.
The letter from Garfield Secretary Brenda Shelby states, "According to your home address, you live in J.B. Young school district. If you are planning to have your child attend Sudlow Intermediate next year, please fill out the attached Principal's Agreement form and return it to the Garfield Office as soon as possible."
Guard wrote that the letter "is incongruous with two board policies. This practice violates the student transfer policy currently in place." In addition, he wrote that he worries that the "open invitation" to attend Sudlow will likely have "a negative impact on the racial distribution of students at J.B. Young," leading to "further racial isolation."
In closing his memo, Guard wrote, "It is odd that we bemoan the declining enrollment at J.B. Young when we take actions that accelerate that exodus."
The measure, a contract with All Iowa Score Tables LLC, failed on a 3-3 vote, with one abstention. A motion by board member Dan Portes to re-consider the vote also failed, because nobody seconded it.
The vote was surprising because only one board member - Richard Clewell - actively opposed the agreement.
The plan would have given the school district a portion of the revenues from advertising at the various sports venues. In the first year, the district would get no money (for the company to recoup the expense of new scoreboards), but it would receive 40 percent in years two and three, and 50 percent in years four, five, and six. According to a proposal from All Iowa Score Tables, the company would need 44 advertisers to fill advertising spaces at the various locations. Neither the proposal nor the agreement says how much money the district could expect to get through the arrangement.
Although the agreement would have had no financial cost for the school district, Clewell argued that the board would be "trading credibility for access" by allowing advertising at school sports venues. "This is an ethical decision reflecting the integrity and dignity of the district," he said.
He bemoaned "the toxic environment we present to our children" and said the scoreboard ads would be an attempt to "develop brand loyalty" among Davenport's schoolchildren.
Clewell also noted that the school district has no policy or plan for managing advertising in schools.
That last point doomed the proposal. Board members Alan Guard and Katie Hanson voted against the agreement but suggested a board policy on advertising would have changed their votes. "We need to have some kind of policy to guide us," Guard said. "I have no problem with the agreement per se. I do have a problem that we don't have a policy."
"We haven't had the opportunity to talk about a plan ... or where our line is, our limit," Hanson echoed.
Clewell had brought up the possibility of a district advertising policy at a previous committee of the whole meeting, and Guard told the River Cities' Reader that he was surprised the agreement came before the school board without one. Currently, the agreement gives the administration final say on all advertising, but Guard said the board should have some input - either in crafting a policy or in approving individual ads.
Guard added that he was hesitant about the six-year term of the agreement, and the fact that the district didn't ask for proposals from All Iowa Score Tables' competitors, if there are any.
But he said that the lack of a policy was the deciding factor in his vote this week. "If there's a policy in place, they know where my vote is," he said.
All Iowa Score Tables would have 60 days from the approval of an agreement to secure advertising before putting up the new scoreboards and wanted them ready for football season, so there is some need for board action soon. "We can get this done if we really want to," Guard said.
Guard Questions Letter from Garfield School
Also at Monday's meeting, Guard distributed a memo in which he questioned a letter sent to Garfield parents inviting them to have their students attend Sudlow - instead of J.B. Young - intermediate school.
The letter from Garfield Secretary Brenda Shelby states, "According to your home address, you live in J.B. Young school district. If you are planning to have your child attend Sudlow Intermediate next year, please fill out the attached Principal's Agreement form and return it to the Garfield Office as soon as possible."
Guard wrote that the letter "is incongruous with two board policies. This practice violates the student transfer policy currently in place." In addition, he wrote that he worries that the "open invitation" to attend Sudlow will likely have "a negative impact on the racial distribution of students at J.B. Young," leading to "further racial isolation."
In closing his memo, Guard wrote, "It is odd that we bemoan the declining enrollment at J.B. Young when we take actions that accelerate that exodus."
