Schools Cash In on Their Rooftops
School bus advertising. Soft drink contracts. Now rooftops.
Some school districts have begun leasing roof space to wireless phone companies for antennas and cell phone towers. The districts are pocketing thousands of dollars and the companies are filling in coverage gaps.
“I think this is a great idea. It keeps our taxes lower,” said Gary Lindenbaum, father of two at Cresthill Middle School in suburban Highlands Ranch. “There’s no proof that cell phones are bad for anyone, and kids are separated from the wiring by layers of concrete.”
This is the latest national commercializing trend schools are embracing to make money, similar to school bus advertising and soft drink contracts, said Mike Griffith, spokesman for the Education Commission of the States.
Although schools can earn more than $300,000 a year on soft drink contracts, the clauses sometimes require students to consume a certain number of beverages per day, said Alex Molnar, director of the Center for the Analysis of Commercialism in Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Wireless phone antenna contracts don’t have the same requirements. “This antenna idea can be good for students, as long as cell companies don’t infringe on student life,” he said.
Architects can conceal antennas behind boxes with painted bricks and disguise cell phone towers as chimneys, trees or other plants.
One cellular tower can have as many as three different wireless companies using the space to save money, Sprint PCS spokesman Bob Kelley said.
“Usually when a city approves a tower, they add a clause saying that other companies can use the space,” he said.
The contracts usually last between five and 10 years, and school administrators can back out of the agreement at any time, officials said.
“Schools are landlords we like to have. They are centrally located in a community and often times already have some sort of antenna on their roof that we can work with,” Kelley said.
No national figures are available on how many schools or how much money is made because the idea is new, but some school districts report earning $12,000 to $15,000 per antenna, which can multiply quickly.
For example, the Douglas County School District will earn more than $50,000 a year from deals with Sprint PCS, Nextel West and VoiceStream Wireless. Profits could exceed $100,000 eventually, said district spokesman Steve Morrison.
Two districts in Arizona--the Tucson Unified and Paradise Valley districts--make about $80,000 a year renting rooftop space. Schools in New Orleans rent space at their athletic stadiums, and schools in Albuquerque, N.M., make about $700 a month on towers.
“We’ve been very careful to consider all problems that could be associated with this,” Morrison said. “So far, it’s nothing but a win-win situation.”
Representatives of schools and the companies say no health hazard has been linked to wireless phone equipment, but Molnar said more research should be done. He also cautioned school districts not to use money as an excuse to accept commercializing trends.
“Underfunding for schools is especially bad in Colorado,” he said, “but that doesn’t mean schools should compromise their students for a little money.”
