Ads On The Bus Go 'Round And 'Round in Mendham

The Mendham Township Board of Education passed a resolution last week that allows businesses to advertise on school buses, and the board is now ready to receive proposals.

"In January, the department of education released regulations authorizing districts, should they choose, to put advertisements, and they're very specific about what types and sizes and things like that, on school buses to generate revenue," Superintendent Sal Constantino said. "In Mendham we have almost 40 vehicles that run routes for private schools and other school districts, so it's something that we would consider as a way to generate additional revenue."

Constantino said that a business may make an offer to the board via its vendor, Marigold Communications, and the board can then accept or decline said proposal after having its attorney review it. However, he added that "I don't think we'll be doing anything for the remainder of this school year. Most likely any proposals that we receive would have a beginning date in September."

Board President Andrew Christmann voiced his concerns about potential advertisements.

"I will just say that with the school bus advertising that I'm not completely comfortable with this," Christmann said."It's not that I'm not interested in the advertising, it's probably that I find it troubling that the state chose to decide that after 100 years of figuring out how to make the buses ultimately the perfect vehicle with the perfect color of yellow, flashing lights and block letters that we decided in the state of New Jersey that we would say it's OK for districts to put advertising on the side. I don't know whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, but I find it troubling that that's where we decided to go after funding."

Councilperson Jocelyn deGrandpre was also skeptical about the endeavor.

"We're deciding at this point to spend time negotiating agreements, spending money having our attorney reviewing the agreement and spend more time reviewing ads," deGrandpre said.

Constantino said that each ad will require its own individual approval by the board, and that there are no minimum ad requirements. He also stated that projections showed that all the ads together could generate anywhere from $82,000 to $110,000 per year for the district.

"The board is being very cautious and careful," Constantino said. "They want to make sure that were we to do this that we're responsible and making sure that our buses remain safe, and the priority is making sure they get kids to and from school safely. Were there to be any proposals, they'll be carefully scrutinized and considered, and we'll see what happens then."