At its voting meeting tonight, the Ellwood City school board will consider allowing Walmart and Kmart to sell Ellwood City school district-themed clothing. The agreement would be negotiated through Pel Industries, an athletic apparel company.
During the board’s agenda meeting on Monday, Business Manager Richard Zarone said the district had attempted a similar arrangement before with a different company, but it hadn’t worked out. The school would receive eight percent royalties from sales.
Vice President Matt Morella was concerned that such an arrangement would hurt local businesses. Board member Kathy Pansera noted that Beaver County Walmarts already sell t-shirts for other school districts and that local businesses that sell Ellwood-themed athletic apparel don’t have deals with the district.
Borough Solicitor John DeCaro said the board would have to work out details, such as what the actual logo for the district is and whether apparel would be under the name Ellwood City or Lincoln High School.
Board member Mike Nuepauer requested Zarone to look into how much money the district could receive from the deal.
Surveys
The board will vote on a motion to conduct community surveys. The surveys will be an attempt to solicit feedback from teachers, students and parents.
The surveys will be online, either through Google Forms or Survey Monkey and anonymous. The questions will be primarily open-ended.
Board member LeRoy Cortez voiced concern about gathering information in such a manner.
“It’s hardly a scientific way of gathering information,” Cortez said, adding that he favored having a town hall discussion to garner information.
You can certainly do both the survey and a town hall.
Online surveys allow individuals to complete them at their convenience whereas not everyone will be able to attend a town hall meeting. The anonymity of online surveys also will ensure you get honest replies. Not everyone likes to stick their name to their opinions.
Shouldn’t they already have a logo for their athletic teams?