Ads appear on school websites - USATODAY.com

Ads appear on school websites - USATODAY.com

Ads appear on school websites Updated 6h 43m ago | Comments 4 | Recommend 3 E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions |

Enlarge A growing number of school districts facing budget cuts look to advertising on their websites as a possible new source of revenue. An add for child care is seen near the top right of John F. Pattie Sr. Elementary School's website in Dumfries, Va. Share Yahoo! Buzz Add to Mixx Facebook Twitter More Subscribe myYahoo iGoogle More By Jeff Martin, USA TODAY A growing number of school districts facing budget cuts are looking to advertising on their websites as a new revenue source. School districts in Virginia and Arizonaalready have ads on their official sites, while officials at districts in South Dakota, Wisconsin and California say they are planning to place ads soon. "Because of the economy, districts are just desperately looking for any source of revenue they can get their hands on," says Dan Domenech, executive director of theAmerican Association of School Administrators. "This is really tricky stuff for school districts, though," says Richard Colvin, director of the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media at Columbia University in New York. "They have to be very careful about the image that they're projecting." The 130,000-student San Diego Unified School District has lost about 25% of its revenue in the past three years because of state budget cuts, says chief district relations officer Bernie Rhinerson. Officials there are developing a plan they believe could generate at least $100,000 annually by selling ads, he says. "I would like to attract advertisers that have an educational message," Rhinerson says, adding that