Some having second thoughts on the safety of school bus ads

FRAMINGHAM -- Beset by deep budget cuts, some school districts celebrated a quiet victory in 2002, when the state approved a law turning school buses into roving billboards.

But as several communities in Greater Boston start selling advertising space on their yellow conveyances, lawmakers, backed by Edward Burman, a slim and frenetic assistant safety officer in the Framingham Police Department, are moving to repeal that decision, saying the ads distract motorists and endanger students criss-crossing local roads.

"Kids' safety isn't something we should be messing around with," said state Representative Karen Spilka, an Ashland Democrat and former School Committee member. "It just doesn't make sense."

The original law passed with relatively little debate as part of the state budget. The repeal legislation, sponsored by state Representative Philip Travis, a Rehoboth Democrat, was endorsed by the House Public Safety Committee last July and is under consideration in the Ways and Means Committee.

Burman is optimistic. A state-certified bus driving instructor who has sat behind the wheel for 20 years, he said the law should be changed before the first fatality.

"Why are you going to risk their lives by putting an ad on the side of the bus?" said Burman, who has authored two columns deriding the law, appeared on television, and lobbied lawmakers at a legislative breakfast in Framingham. "These drivers are distracted enough."

Many school officials, however, are unaware of the pending legislation. And as communities consider additional cuts, they are looking to bus-advertising revenue to stave off faculty layoffs, forestall school closures, or avoid eliminating programs.

The Berlin-Boylston Regional School District decided to allow ads on March 3, and officials are moving swiftly to start peddling local products on their buses. Superintendent Marcia A. Lukon, who said she is advertising in a local newspaper, expects 11 buses to draw at least $100,000.

"We need it badly," Lukon said. "We cut just about everything but staff."

Last year, when the district lost 20 percent of its state funding, it raised fees for sports to $225 and instituted a $60 parking fee.

Dennis Tarsook, a traffic sergeant in the Beverly Police Department, said police have not seen an increase in bus-related citations since the ads appeared.

And interest in the ads appears to be growing. School officials in Beverly, first to take advantage of the law, say they field three calls a week from districts hoping to mimic their program.

Though the bill was filed without his participation, Burman, a part-time school bus driver who lectures regional police on enforcing bus safety rules, regards the repeal as a personal campaign.

His message is by now well-refined: Advertisements block a bus's identifying National School Bus Glossy Yellow, a legally restricted color, and divert a motorist's attention from the bus's outstretched stop sign and flashing red lights.

He and other critics of the law are most fearful of car-pedestrian collisions. Of the 26 school-aged children killed every year in school bus accidents, at least 19 are struck boarding or leaving a bus, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Still, police say drivers speed by stopped buses, despite hefty fines for failing to halt before the vehicle's so-called stop arm. In Framingham, police have sent nearly 500 drivers warning letters since last March and have ticketed more than 30 motorists, said Rick Gallagher, director of transportation for the public schools. On March 11 alone, for example, Framingham bus drivers reported 11 violations.

An ad, Burman said, "is just going to distract from all the safety things the state has put into effect."

Burman believes his publicity efforts are working. On at least one occasion, his lobbying appears to have paid off: The Ashland School Committee recently dropped consideration of the policy after Burman mailed an information packet.

Tom Sannicandro, the vice chairman, said the committee was, as a result, only evaluating ads on stationary school property to help close a possible $1 million school budget shortfall for next year.

"I don't think many of us were looking at these safety issues," he said. "It was something we hadn't considered."

Other cash-strapped districts, however, remain unconvinced.

"The yellow in the back and front won't be covered, and the sign still sticks out," Lukon said. "If I thought it would be a safety issue, we wouldn't do it."

State Representative Ruth B. Balser, a Newton Democrat who cosponsored the bill, said she sympathizes with under-funded districts but objects primarily to having children further bombarded with advertising. She said the bill has a fair chance at passing.

"Clearly there is a great need to increase revenue," Spilka said. "This is not the way to do it."

Benjamin Gedan can be reached at gedan@globe.com.