The Ypsilanti Courier
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Advertising on buses to continue
Board members honor track coach
By Kathleen Conat, Special Writer
PUBLISHED: February 22, 2007
A controversial decision to continue an advertising campaign, meant to bring money into the district, led the agenda of the Ypsilanti Board of Education meeting last week.
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The issue of whether or not to continue with a contract that puts advertising on district buses was raised at the previous meeting.
Board Vice President Amy Doyle, who serves on the advertising approval committee, brought the issue to the board after the rest of the committee approved an advertisement that had more of a "hard sell" message.
Trustees Cameron Getto and Andrew Fanta had, at the prior meeting, moved and seconded a motion to terminate the contract with InSight Media, the advertising firm. The motion was based on the assertion that this particular advertisement did not fit with others provided in the past.
Since November 2005, public-service messages have been provided for the inside of school buses that included the name of the sponsoring organization. However, the advertisement in question contained no such redeeming message.
The issue of advertising on the buses was controversial when the district first agreed to the contract in 2005. Since then, the ads have not drawn much public comment.
Getto said his concern was that district administration went outside the scope of the original agreement. He attributed this to the board having never set guidelines for the committee. He asserted the advertising approval committee had never been autonomous and the board had the final say.
Fanta agreed, saying the board has veto power, but it should not be used often.
"I don't want to vote on every ad," he said.
Trustee Linda Horne said Doyle had done the right thing in bringing the issue to the board, as she saw clear differences between the original type of ads and the one being disputed. She was in agreement that the board needed to set specific guidelines.
Since the beginning of the advertising campaign, the school district has collected revenue between $1,500 and $2,000, said Superintendent James Hawkins. The money goes into the general fund.
After spirited discussion, it was agreed the policy committee would draft guidelines to be brought to the board for approval. At that time, the motion to terminate the contract was withdrawn by Fanta and Getto.
In other business, board members adopted a resolution honoring Ypsilanti track coach Tom Micallef upon his induction into the Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Hall of Fame.
Micallef has coached at Ypsilanti for 27 years and has won several state championships.
Kathleen Conat is a long-time Ypsilanti resident and freelance writer for the Courier. She can be reached through editor@ypsilanticourier.com.
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