NEWS

Vineland school bus ads net district $8K

Deborah M. Marko
@dmarko_dj
Jack Calkin (left) of EIRC, and Gary Galloway of Rental Country Inc. show the Vineland school board the first ad that will run on 20 district school buses.

VINELAND - The school district’s campaign to raise revenue by selling ad space on school buses is up and running.

Rental Country Inc. committed to a one-year contract for 20 buses, netting the school district $6,864.

In November, the school board signed a 12-month contract with Educational Information & Resource Center of Mullica Hill to market ad space on district school buses.

“As board members, we were skeptical going with the bus advertising, you hear some negatives, you hear some positives, but it is time that we find an alternate way to raise some money for the district,”  school board president Scott English said.

Bus ads approved by Vineland BOE

The day The Daily Journal article about the district soliciting bus ads hit the streets, English said, Gary Galloway, the owner of Rental Country, reached out.

“About 9 a.m., my phone is buzzing away and Gary is one of the first ones and wants to know how much, when and where,” English said.

The ad revenue sales goal for this year is $10,000, of which 50 percent will be earmarked to offset district school bus fuel costs.

Jack Calkin of EIRC showed the school board the Rental County ad going on school buses next week.

“They’ll be in the middle of the buses between the wheels,” Calkin said.

Galloway was in the audience Wednesday when the board approved the sales contract. He accepted a certificate of appreciation for his support “and for helping our district,” Superintendent Mary Gruccio said.

Sahara Sam’s Oasis Indoor and Outdoor Water Park, located in West Berlin, signed up for 10 buses, which will bring in another $1,950.

New faces elected to Vineland board

Other business

Carol Deola of All Kids First approached the school board with a proposal to expand her preschool contract to include kindergarten. No commitment was offered but the board accepted the information packet she submitted.

“I have two rooms to offer the district,” she said, explaining the space is not needed for the district’s state-funded preschool program. The furnished rooms are each more than 1,000-square-feet with bathrooms and a private entrance.

More than 50 parents “would love to see their children stay at All Kids First for kindergarten, I don’t know if that would be possible,” Deola said. “Maybe your kindergarten classes will be overcrowded.”

Millville BOE unanimously votes in new Silver Run principal

School board members officially said goodbye to Eric Reissek, the Landis Intermediate School assistant principal, who was named principal of Silver Run Elementary School in Millville. His resignation is effective March 25.

English issued an invitation to the public to attend the special meeting for the 2016-17 budget unveiling 7 p.m. Feb. 29 at Wallace Intermediate School, 688 N. Mill Road.

When people come to the podium, it’s often to implore the board to spare a budget cut, English said, noting the budget draft does include a tax increase and job cuts.

“We would love to save everything,” he said. “But what we really need to hear from the people in the hallways, from the people in the classroom, from the parents, from the taxpayers, are some solutions.”

Deborah M. Marko; (856) 563-5256; dmarko@gannettnj.com

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