Q:
Recently our PTA wanted to have local businesses sponsor buses for their school trip but were informed by the head teacher he was not in support of such a method of fund raising, he suggested it was against the 'Policy' of the Education Authority. The PTA felt this was a good way of involving the local business community in the activities of the school and the decision of the head teacher would close a lot of avenues for fund-raising.
A:
This is a very sensitive issue because, although you see it as simply getting someone else to pay for the school transport, there are a lot of questions of principle about involving commercial firms in schools. The local businesses might be totally virtuous, but does that open the door to Nike or Coca Cola coming into the school? This is a matter of very heated debate in many areas and some authorities are coming to the decision that it is best to say 'no' to all sponsorship rather than allow some and then have the difficult problem of working out where to draw the line and refusing others. From the messages we have had about sponsorship, we are aware that even seemingly "OK" organisations can be involved in activities - perhaps in the Third World - that some parents at the school object to. You should discuss this at a meeting and why not use our guidelines on advertising/sponsorship in schools.