Ads are being placed on school buses in Dallas to counter-balance statewide budget cuts. Hays CISD is considering doing the same thing in hopes of adding $100,000 to the district coffers each year. (Courtesy photo)
by WES FERGUSON
You see a school bus. Alpha Media sees a “mobile billboard.”
And the Hays CISD could be seeing an additional $100,000 in revenue every year after signing a contract with the New York-based advertising firm to place ads on the outside of the district’s yellow buses.
“We are really in a no-lose situation on advertising,” Hays CISD Superintendent Jeremy Lyon said. “The contract is very favorable to the school district. We get 75 percent of all proceeds of ad sales, and we also have the ability to put public service announcements on.”
The school district’s fleet racks up nearly 2 million miles ever year. The district will also have control of the ad content, so no advertising for tobacco or other questionable products.
Many other schools in Texas, including the Dallas Independent School District, have already implemented the ad program.
“Our ads provide the most cost-efficient means for a business to get their message out while at the same time helping the schools generate income,” Alpha Media President Michael Beauchamp said in an emailed statement.
