
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, January 29, 1995                   TAG: 9501310120
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: YORKTOWN                                 LENGTH: Medium

YORK OFFICIALS WON'T GIVE UP ON SCHOOL BUS ADS ISSUE

York County officials, defeated in a legislative attempt to get permission to lease advertising space on the sides of school buses, say they will look for other ways to realize the idea.

County school officials and a group of third- and fourth-graders working on the proposal as a class project had asked state Sen. Thomas Norment, R-Williamsburg, to introduce the bill.

The Senate transportation committee killed the measure Thursday after representatives of the Department of Education, the Department of Transportation and the Virginia State Police spoke against it, said Michael Fox, Norment's aide.

``We knew there was going to be strong opposition, but I don't think we quite expected this,'' Fox said. He said opponents' principal concerns were related to student safety.

York's school superintendent, Steven R. Staples, said Friday that legislation was just one avenue the division planned to pursue to allow advertising on school buses. It is a Department of Education regulation, not a law, that forbids doing so, and Staples said he will continue seeking a change in the department's rules.

``We've asked the state Board of Education to establish a waiver, although early indications show they're not receptive to the idea,'' Staples said.

Staples said he does not intend to create an advertising program that jeopardizes student safety. ``I'm not convinced that putting an ad on the buses automatically compromises the safety and security of students,'' he said.

Staples said allowing the division to sell advertisements on school buses would fall in line with a new philosophy that has swept state government: ``We can't go by the old rules all the time.''

Selling ads would generate revenue in a new and creative way, and state government officials seem to favor that type of initiative now, Staples said.

York wouldn't be the first school system to sell school bus ads. A district in Colorado Springs, Colo., made national news last fall when it launched at least eight school buses with various commercial logos.

The Colorado Springs system hopes to raise $155,000 this year in advertising revenues. To do so, officials had to get a waiver from the Colorado education department, which prohibits advertising on school buses.

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GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995

by CNB