Selling Naming Rights at PVMHS Like 'Selling the Soul' of the School

A proposal to generate alternative revenues by selling naming rights at some city school facilities, particularly at the high school, has drawn sharp criticism from one school board member.

Longtime committee member Beverley Griffin Dunne said that any effort to change the names of the houses or other facilities at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School would be akin to “selling the soul of that building.”

She reminded her colleagues at a recent committee meeting that the standing policy at PVMHS is that the school and its facilities are to be named for veterans or branches of the United States military.

She said opening up naming rights could be opening “a huge can of worms” if donors don’t follow through with the full amount, for example, but the board agrees to rename a facility in the meantime.

Superintendent Joe Mastrocola raised the issue that evening as he sought feedback from the board on preparing a study over the summer of possible capital projects that could be financed with private dollars in exchange for some name recognition. 

Mastrocola’s suggestions were more along the lines of tags or plates with donors’ names inscribed upon them on seats in the auditorium to help finance repairs to the stage, upgrade the lighting or install a backstage clamshell.

He also noted that the cafeteria tables and walls need attention as well as the front lobby of the school, where a plaque could be installed in recognition of donors.

He said the front stairs inside the lobby would be sanded down and repainted over the summer in time for the start of school in September.

The specific issue of naming rights had to do with the football field. Mayor Ted Bettencourt says he wants to pursue installing a new turf field at the high school, but that’s a $1 million endeavor.

Bettencourt wanted to discuss the possibility of selling the naming rights for the field, which is currently named after a Vietnam veteran (Coley Lee).

Bettencourt said, in an interview with the Salem News, he thought it was a worthy discussion given the economic difficulties still for communities and school districts and could provide a good means of alternative revenue if someone were looking to make a sizable donation for a specific project. 

He also noted there are already exceptions to the policy at the high school, such as the outer courtyard recently dedicated to 9/11 Peabody victim Christine Barbuto. 

Dunne had said she would be open to allowing recognition of donors if done in an appropriate manner. She told the Salem News she would be fine with a plaque or something along the lines of bricks with donors’ names inscribed on them. 

School Committee members Dave McGeney and Tom Rossignoll did not voice any apprehension at the concept at their June 11 meeting, but instead said the proposal had merit.

McGeney said it was a creative initiative that could tap other revenue sources than Peabody taxpayers’ wallets while Rossignoll noted the Peabody Learning Academy at the Northshore Mall was a product of public and private partnership with great success.