The Howe Sound School Board has struck a committee to look into revising the district’s policy on corporate sponsorship in schools, but the District Parent Advisory Council feels the board is wasting valuable time.
DPAC was asked to solicit input from all District 48 parent advisory councils and make a presentation to the board on the issue.
The Howe Sound Teacher’s Association, CUPE, the principals and vice principals association and members of the public were also invited to make comments at a committee of the whole meeting last month.
Board chair Amy Shoup said DPAC’s message was that if the current policy ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
The principals, however, have real concerns over the potential for corporate intrusion in schools, noted Shoup. Some members of the public – like Paul Harrington who made a presentation to the board – also have strong feelings on the issue. Harrington, said Shoup, is involved in the labour movement. Unions, in general, are against the privatization of education and they maintain the creeping intrusion of corporate sponsorship in schools is the thin edge of the privatization wedge. The B.C. Teachers Federation, for example, has called for either a total ban on exclusive contracts or for strict limits to be placed on them.
CUPE, although invited, did not make a presentation to the board.
However, Whistler secondary’s new DPAC representative, Chris Vernon Jarvis, was so upset the board did not take DPAC’s advice not to change the status quo that he quit his position in protest.
"He attended one meeting and that was it," noted Shoup. "The DPAC is right, given the situation that exists right now," she said. "Our policy deals with what happens now but I think we need to be prepared and give some thought as to what is going to happen when a big corporation comes knocking on our door, because I have no doubt they will at some point in time," she said.
"I think everyone realizes it is there. It is something that we will have to deal with and we want something in place for that day in the future when IBM or Nike comes knocking. We will need to have some process in place to deal with these people."
Shoup said if the provincial government funded education properly, the board wouldn’t need to even go down this road.
"It wouldn’t be an issue. The government is saying they have a big surplus and we are saying, ‘oh isn’t that nice, how much will education get?’ But no one is crossing fingers."
Although DPAC representatives were unanimous in feeling that revising the current policy on sponsorship was a waste of time, neither the Whistler secondary nor Myrtle Philip PAC’s polled parents on the issue of corporate sponsorship and no formal position was taken by those PACs.
After hearing the submissions last month, the school board voted to strike a committee to develop a draft policy. Sub-committees are also being formed in the communities of Pemberton, Whistler and Squamish that will provide community input to the main committee.
"I asked trustees to respond to me by Nov. 30 as to whether they wanted to chair those committees in their communities," said Shoup.
"Betty Connell is going to do it in Pemberton and either Constance Rulka or Don Ross will do it in Squamish, both are amenable to that. But, I haven’t heard from the Whistler trustees yet."
Shoup said she doesn’t expect much headway to be made until after the busy Christmas period.
Whistler trustee Andrée Janyk voted along with district board members to work toward a draft policy but, after hearing what Vernon Jarvis had to say, she said she may reconsider her position.
"Perhaps we have got something in place and we are jumping ahead without considering it," she said of the current policy. "I am just trying to be responsive to my people."
Janyk told the recent Whistler secondary PAC meeting she may have made an error in judgement about how they felt.
Most schools in the district have negotiated individual and exclusive contracts with either Coke or Pepsi where vending machines emblazoned with advertising are provided the schools in turn for a cut of the profits – usually about 30-45 per cent of the sales – plus other perks like score boards.
The beverage companies in turn are after brand loyalty from "emerging" consumers. One of the concerns is that these young people are vulnerable to peer pressure.
Most contracts are between two and five years but Pemberton secondary entered into a nine-year deal with Pepsi. The length of this contract made the school board sit up and take note.
"We decided we needed some guidelines in place," said Shoup.
"We certainly don’t want to limit the schools in what they feel they need to do but there is all this talk about how can we have these machines and be selling this stuff in schools when we are preaching a healthy life style."
Shoup said some argue that the kids buy the stuff anyway. If it is not in the schools, they all have access to a corner store. "Is it better to buy it at the school and at least keep some of the profits that can be used for those kids? I grapple with this myself. There are no easy answers."
In the U.S., schools are estimated to pocket about US$15 to $20 per student per year from percentages of cola revenues. It is expected the same is likely in this country.
Local schools have also formed alliances with other companies, like Intrawest which provides shirts with logos for the peer counsellors. As well, companies like Scholastics Book and Discovery Toys do business at schools while others, like IGA and Staples, encourage parents to save and submit receipts in return for school perks. White Spot helps out with reading awards at Mamquam elementary. A Squamish business provides team uniforms at Howe Sound secondary and the meat and dairy marketing boards provide learning resources at that school.
A BCTF study conducted last spring shows that 93 per cent of secondary schools in the province have exclusive beverage contracts. Only 16 per cent of all schools in B.C. have vending machines that offer nutritious snacks.
The study found nearly half of all elementary schools have Scholastic Book fairs to raise funds for cash-strapped libraries. The teachers use bonus points form these fairs to stock classrooms. Some teachers say Scholastic has a captive audience, free labour and that teachers, students and schools get little return for their hard work. The study also found that schools in high socio-economic areas have an edge when it comes to things like computer donations.
The board’s current policy on corporate sponsorship in schools was adopted in 1998. Schools now have to bring their contracts before the board for a final stamp of approval. "I don’t think they even needed to do that in the past," noted Shoup.
The current policy states that: "The board supports the establishment of formal partnerships between schools and business-community organizations. Such agreements are established to provide benefit to each partner and to appropriately enhance the educational programs of students. Further, the board acknowledges and values the many informal associations and connections between schools and business-community organizations."
The policy also sets out criteria and standards for partnerships.
These include stipulations that all contracts must be ratified by the board. They must also be consistent with values, goals and objectives of educational programs; serve an identifiable educational need; support existing curriculum and be consistent with existing policy.
They must not provide financial gain to a district employee or direct or indirect benefit to employees’ families or friends.
They must not directly or indirectly exploit students or exert pressure to compel students, parents, or the school community to support any commercial enterprise. They must adhere to a standard of public trust; be subject to periodic review and ensure that sponsor recognition and corporate logos are for identification rather than a commercial purpose and therefore be kept to a minimum.
The policy also states that the board will make every effort to ensure equity of partnership opportunities across the district. Schools in Whistler, for example, may hold more attraction for some corporations than some of the other facilities in the district.
