A new list of school advertising guidelines aims to clarify what can and can’t be included in advertising on county school property, including restrictions on political content and who decides what’s OK.

Limestone County Schools Interim Superintendent Mike Owens presented a draft of the guidelines during Monday’s work session. Members of the Limestone County Board of Education, faculty members and a member of the community then discussed why the list was necessary and what changes should be made.

The 14-point list, as presented Monday, requires advertising be approved by the superintendent or the superintendent’s designee, such as the school principal. Advertising must be consistent with board policies, district standards and district goals.

Ads cannot include the following: references to alcohol, tobacco drugs, drug paraphernalia or weapons; lewd, vulgar, obscene pornographic, illegal or otherwise inappropriate materials; political promotion; libelous material; false, misleading or deceptive information; and material that would “tend to create a substantial disruption in the school environment or inhibit the functional of any school.”

Additional items on the list allowed those who disagreed with a superintendent or designee’s decision to bring their case before the board. It also provided for district administrators to refuse, delete or remove any ads or content “if continued display reflects negatively on the District” or is found to violate guidelines or policy.

Political language

Almost immediately, board member Earl Glaze asked about editing an item on the list that dealt directly with political language. In its presented form, the item reads: “No advertisement shall promote any political candidate, political party, a political viewpoint/message/slogan, or a position on a ballot issue.”

“I think if we leave it as is, we’re creating a problem for us in the future,” Glaze said. “If we as a board try to get a referendum passed or something for our school system, … we can’t do anything to promote helping ourselves at the school.”

It was suggested the final part of the item — position on a ballot issue — be removed.

What about religion?

Board member Anthony Hilliard requested opinions from other members regarding another potential problem — religious or faith-based signs.

“If we allow certain religious organizations to put some kind of advertising on, and then there’s another organization and we don’t particularly lean toward their views, what are we going to do when they come to us and say, ‘Well, you let them; why won’t you let me?'” Hilliard asked.

Board chairman Bret McGill asked if he wanted to discuss rules regarding religious phrasing, such as “Jesus Saves,” or religious organizations and denominations, such as a Baptist or Methodist church.

“Anything that would tie us to a particular, named religion or faith,” Hilliard said. “There’s a bunch of different kinds of religions or faiths out there now, and if you have some organization promoting their faith and someone else comes in that doesn’t agree with it, we’re going to be back in the same position we’re in with politics.”

The proposed guidelines say advertisements being allowed on campus property are not an endorsement by the board or district of whatever is being advertised. However, Hilliard wondered if they could add another guideline regarding advertisements purchased by a religious or faith-based organization.

Advertiser reacts

The final item on the list allows signs to remain in place until the end of the school year for which they were purchased, “unless otherwise determined at time of purchase.” That means signs like the one for Veep Electric Services at East Limestone High School, which features the words “GO TRUMP” and “#MAGA”, would remain in place until the end of this year.

At that point, the sign would be taken down and reviewed for compliance with the guidelines. Owens said the same would be done for all signs across the district.

Skip Van Pamel, who owns Veep, said he was “disturbed” by the new list of rules.

“For me, it’s $1,000 a year for a sign that probably cost $100 that lasts I don’t even know how long,” he told board members during the work session. “I don’t even do the kind of work that people sitting in the stadium would need. I’m an industrial and commercial electrician. Unless you manage one of these plants around here, we’ve got no business.”

He said rather than advertise to attract customers, he does it “for the kids.” Others in attendance echoed his sentiments, with one saying limits on religious organizations could seriously hurt fundraisers, while another said most aren’t even paying for advertising.

“It’s a way to help the kids. If they were doing it for advertising, there are a lot of places they could spend money,” said Rusty Bates, director of transportation, safety and athletics for LCS. “… I think they’re just doing it to help our schools.”

No vote needed

When questioned, McGill explained there was no need for a vote on the guidelines because they would not be board policy. He said it should have been addressed before by a superintendent but wasn’t, so the board requested Owens put procedures in place that would be consistently enforced throughout the county.

“It happens all the time,” he said. “The superintendent has a lot of latitude in operating the schools day to day.”

As such, the list would be added to LCS’ procedures manual once it was finalized and would not appear on a board meeting agenda for a vote of approval.