AISD board OKs placing ads on buses

The May 20 board vote was 7-1-1. Trustee Jayme Mathias opposed, and trustee Tamala Barksdale was absent from the dais.

"My perspective is that our children are bombarded by a great amount of advertising," Mathias told the trustees. "The question is do we want to go that extra step of putting advertising on our school buses—that is to say, I simply raise the question, 'Are there any sacred places left?'"

Mathias said he was also concerned with ad content. Calvert said SCM will work with the district to ensure ads are "family-friendly," and the ads cannot promote religious institutions, tobacco or alcohol, political parties or "businesses that promote body art services," among other establishments. The district will have the final say on all ads, she said.

"We want ads that are informative to our students, that help promote a healthy lifestyle, healthy environment [and a] strong desire to be a good student. We think there are a lot of ads out there that can fill our school buses with those types of promotions," Torres said.

The ad revenue is not yet earmarked for a potential use but instead will go into the general fund, Torres said.