WATCH ABOVE: Schools and company cash: does the math add up? Vinesh Pratap takes a look at the debate.
EDMONTON — Schools and corporate cash: is it a recipe for disaster or a sound business model? That’s the question some school boards outside Edmonton will try to answer this summer.
The Wild Rose school division plans to draft a policy to deal with corporate sponsorship and advertising by the fall.
It’s not about the revenue, said board chair Nancy McClure. The board just wants to be prepared if sponsorship opportunities arise.
She said there is some appetite among parents and in the community the division serves, which stretches from Red Deer west to the B.C. border.
“I’ve been hearing that people have comfort levels with some type of companies being involved in their schools, and not others.”
READ MORE: ‘Corporations should not be deciding what students learn’: Alberta NDP
McClure says she recalls Pepsi machines and signage in her school growing up, though she admits times have changed.
The policy committee of the board of Chinook’s Edge school division, based in Innisfail, is also studying the concept.
Drayton Valley parents Global News spoke to were divided.
Larissa Martin thinks corporate sponsorship in schools is a great idea.
“Being in Alberta, there’s a lot of oil and gas money. So why not use some of that money to further the education of kids?”
Kelly-Ann Proudlove, however, believes it may cause more trouble than it’s worth.
“If they want to do an anonymous donation, you know what, have at ‘er. But for them to have a corporate sponsorship and putting their name on a school board or a school in general, no, I don’t think that’s necessary.”
The province’s Healthy Schools policy first led to the debate about what should be allowed in schools.
The Wild Rose division will pursue public consultation before finalizing its policy.
With files from Vinesh Pratap, Global News
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