By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
Whether or not sponsorship, advertising or donations can help fund new school facilities – for both athletics and beyond – is now officially going to be researched by the Burlington Area School District.
After getting direction from the School Board Monday night, Superintendent Peter Smet plans to put together a committee to look into what might work best for the district.
Initially, Smet had intended to propose three policy changes Monday night – one for the naming of facilities, one for sponsorships and another for fundraising signs.
However, when those were handed out at the meeting, the response was less than enthusiastic.
“What is it you want to do with this?” asked Board Member Jim Bousman. When Smet explained he wanted to move toward revising the policies, Bousman said he was disappointed, and wanted the subject explored in more depth.
“I think it’s important to a lot of the people sitting here,” Bousman said. “It’s not just one word being added to a policy.”
The suggested policy changes come months after Burlington residents began to come to the district, interested in using sponsorships, donors and advertising to help fund new facilities.
In particular, the BHS wrestling and gymnastics teams are working in either makeshift or undersized space. The two teams are consistently among the best in the state, and Kevin Bird – a parent of one of the wrestlers – started a petition to find alternative ways of funding new facilities without going to taxpayers for the money.
However, when the subject came up Monday, the prospect went beyond just athletic department needs. Board Member Larry Anderson wanted to see the policies expanded to include any other groups searching to upgrade through donations, such as theater and music.
“So it includes anywhere we get donations,” Anderson said.
The changes in the policy that were suggested were small – one saying fundraising signs needed to be approved by the Superintendent, another saying buildings could be named after a person after he had been out of the district’s employ for 10 years or more.
Smet said the idea was not “to make any kind of power play.” In fact, he openly suggested that if the board wanted further discussion, he would welcome it. The policy revisions were simply a starting point.
Smet also presented information from the Eau Claire and Los Angeles School Districts, which have detailed policies in place.
Board President David Thompson was the first to suggest taking a straw poll to gauge the direction of the board.
Almost unanimously, the board members said they wanted to look further into the situation – but they also were wary about advertising going too far and potentially being a distraction.
“It has to be tastefully done,” said Board Member Rosanne Hahn. She also got to the heart of the matter when she said, “Let’s face it, money is tight.”
“The money would be welcome to the district,” she said in terms of funding improvements.
Bird was in the audience, and said he liked what he was hearing.
“You have community support, for sure,” he said.
Board Member Phil Ketterhagen said that, whatever committee is formed, he wanted to hear both the “pros and the cons.”
“This committee should not be one-sided,” he said. Board Member Roger Koldeway wanted the committee to be run through the board, but others wanted it superintendent-run so it could move more freely and not be bound to open-meeting laws.
“The point is to get it moving,” said Thompson. Bird added that “time is of the essence.”
“There’s a group of people who are excited to help the district,” he said.
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