DALLAS COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM/KRLD) – In the past, some school districts met the idea of putting ads on local school buses with a lot of questions and opposition. Now, as a number of North Texas districts fight budget shortfalls, schools are enthusiastically getting on board with the idea.
The plan to sell ads on the back lower half of large buses was first pitched several months ago. At the time, there were a lot of concerns.
But Susan Falvo, with Dallas County Schools, says with strict guidelines on what can be advertised and the ever shrinking bottom lines of districts, the plan has really caught on.
“In today’s economy you’ve got to use everything possible to try and help our school districts out and that was our purpose in doing this program,” she said.
According to Falvo, the extra money received from ad profits could make a big difference, especially for smaller school districts. “They can, ya know, have the extra teacher, buy the extra schoolbooks, whatever they decide to use that [money] for,” she said.
The ads could bring in an additional million dollars this year.
Dallas County Schools currently have ads on more than 200 of the 1,000 large buses in its fleet. The goal is to get ads on about 300 additional buses in the coming months.