SHORELINE — The Shoreline School Board may adopt a policy June 19 to allow corporate sponsorships, such as advertising, at sports fields and gyms.
With the new policy, the district could pursue sponsorships, such as naming rights for Shoreline Stadium. That revenue would replace money that comes out of the general fund to pay for athletics. Athletic programs would not get any more money than they already do.
The district will end this fiscal year $3 million in the red and about $4.8 million in cuts have been proposed by district officials for the 2006-2007 budget.
Corporate sponsorships are one way of generating new revenue to help the district stabilize its financial standing, said Don Dalziel, the district athletic director.
“It’s really uncharted waters for us,” Dalziel said. “There’s only a few districts that have probed into this.”
As it stands now, district policy does not ban or support the pursuit of corporate sponsorship. The new policy explains why corporate sponsorships benefit the district and clarifies the criteria for choosing sponsors.
Potential sponsors or advertisers would be screened by a committee that would make recommendations to the School Board, said Flip Herndon, principal of Meridian Park Elementary School, who crafted the policy.
“They have to be things that are going to be congruent with goals and guidelines we have with the district,” Herndon said. “Things that are acceptable for students.”
Advertising signage would also have to conform to city guidelines, he added.
Herndon said he reviewed a publication that detailed what other districts such as Clover Park, Mukilteo, Everett, Sumner and Bellevue have done or not done in regard to corporate sponsorships. Sumner School District embraced the practice when it secured a long-term naming rights deal with Sunset Chevrolet for its stadium, which brought in $500,000.
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