After a long late-night meeting on Wednesday, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) effectively turned down a proposal–for now at least–that would put digital screens in 70 schools. The future of the project remains uncertain since the TDSB has chosen not to look into this issue again for the time being.
While no official vote on the project was scheduled to take place last night, the board was to receive the report that would expand the project beyond the four schools who have been testing the concept.
By not receiving the report, “in an indirect way, we voted against it,” said Sheila Cary-Meagher, the board’s Ward 16 trustee.
At issue was the nature of the advertising that would end up on the displays inside public schools. OneStop Media, which was to supply the screens and a digital network to the schools, along with the project’s TDSB proponents maintain that only advertising that falls within board guidelines–health and safety and government messages, for example–would appear.
“At present, there will be no board-wide expansion of the One Stop media monitors,” said TDSB communications representative Shari Schwartz-Maltz.
The majority of the trustees opposed the idea of the TV pilot project last night, said student trustee Zane Schwartz, a Grade 12 student at Leaside High School. He added that as a student representative, the feedback he’s received shows the clear majority of students don’t support putting advertising in schools. Of the e-mails he’s received from parents, students and teachers on the proposal, “Not a single e-mail I’ve received asked me to vote for it; many asked me to vote against it.”
Fellow student trustee Jenny Williams said students from more than 50 student councils have expressed that they like the potential student engagement aspects of the proposal, but don’t want ads to take away from those benefits.
“Students feel as though advertisements would distract them from their education, and that school would no longer be a ‘safe zone’ away from commercialism. This program has great potential to be used in schools, but without any advertisements,” said Williams.
Cary-Meagher agrees that “The job of advertising is to sell something, and I don’t think we should do that in schools. People shouldn’t make money off of a young, captive audience… Kids are not for sale.” She added that she’s bothered that the under funding of education by the provincial government has pushed the school board to consider this option to begin with.
The board, which has faced tremendous financial problems in recent years, stands to make a reported $100,000 from the project should it roll-out to the full 70 schools.
“I’m not surprised that this is a very contentious issue,” said Michael Girgis, OneStop president and CEO. “My concern is that the right information isn’t getting out and we’re getting caught up in the politics of it all.”
Girgis said the project was never about putting “TV screens in hallways” to blast ads at students. The digital network is intended to give students, teachers and the board a communication tool that can serve multiple purposes, from making announcements and displaying student work to serving as a “year-round yearbook,” he said.
“This is an innovation program for the schools. It might sound like there’s an underlying [motive], but that’s all it is,” he said. “We did this to create a curriculum-based program. Students are learning from it, from digital publishing to media literacy to the fact that they’re selling the advertising. It’s a fundraising tool. That’s getting lost.”
At last night’s meeting, eight school wards expressed interest, and the project does have some support among students and teachers.
Last night’s meeting didn’t close the door for the idea to be brought forward again in the future. The board’s Schwartz-Maltz said trustees that support the TV project may try to bring it forward again.
