Ads on Team Uniforms Rescue Schools
There are ads on school team uniforms and ads in high school hallways, and even the yellow buses of School District 11 have turned into to roving billboards for 7-Up, Burger King and other companies.
“If we were not so short of money, we wouldn’t have to do stuff like this,” said Tracy Cooper, a spokeswoman for El Paso County’s District 11. “We’ll consider anything.”
Amendment 1, passed two years ago, caps local governments’ growth, so the 32,000-student district, the state’s fourth largest, had to look for new sources of funds, Cooper said.
Ads have raised about $54,000 since the first one went up in September, 1993. That might seem like pocket change for a district with a $133-million budget this year, but voters haven’t approved a bond issue or new tax for the school in 22 years.
No public outcry has materialized.
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