South Bend school board considering corporate sponsorships

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - South Bend Community School Corp. officials have reviewed a policy that would allow for the sale of corporate sponsorships and naming rights to district facilities and property.

School board officials looked at a proposal Monday during a work session, The South Bend Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/1Gb5DUe ). Board member Michelle Engel says she wants to see more specific guidelines for the proposed program, including how it would be conducted from start to finish.

South Bend isn't the first Indiana school district to consider selling naming rights. Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp. based in Mishawaka is to receive nearly $400,000 over 12 years for the naming of Penn High School's "TCU Freed Field." The school is to earn $100,000 from other corporate sponsorships as well.

Nearby Mishawaka schools considered a similar measure several weeks ago.

Mishawaka interim superintendent Dean Speicher said the district needed to research policies of other area school corporations.

"There are a lot of land mines in this process, and so we are going to try to be very careful . I think we need to go slowly, be deliberate," Speicher said when the idea was introduced.

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Information from: South Bend Tribune, http://www.southbendtribune.com