S-5063               _______________________________________________

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 6896

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1990 Regular Session

By Senators Rinehart and Bailey

Read first time 2/14/90 and referred to Committee on  Education.

AN ACT Relating to commercial promotional activities in schools; and adding new sections to Title 28A RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to Title 28A RCW to read as follows:

          (1) The legislature finds that:

          (a) State compulsory attendance statutes may be viewed by advertisers as a means to reach a "fixed audience" of students;

          (b) Washington students should not be compelled to view advertising during the school day for the financial gain of their schools; and

          (c) The ability of school boards, administrators, and teachers to select from a wide variety of different sources of information for educational purposes should not be easily compromised nor lightly surrendered.

          (2) It is the intent of the legislature to restrict school districts from entering into contracts or agreements under which the instructional time of students is subject to tangible or intangible financial considerations on a quid pro quo basis.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  A new section is added to Title 28A RCW to read as follows:

          Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply to section 2 of this act.

          (1) "Commercial promotional activity" means an activity designed to induce the purchase of a particular product or service by students, or to extol the benefits of a product or service to students to make its purchase more attractive, that is conveyed to students electronically through such media as television, videodiscs, computer programs, and video cassette recorders.

          (2) "Commercial sponsorship" means the sponsorship or the underwriting of an activity on school premises that does not involve the commercial promotion of a particular product or service.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.  A new section is added to Title 28A RCW to read as follows:

          (1) A school district board of directors may not enter into a contract or agreement that permits commercial promotional activity on school premises if the contract or agreement limits or impairs the board's authority and responsibility, or the authority and responsibility of district administrators and teachers, to determine the materials to be presented to students during the school day or to determine the times during the school day when materials will be presented to students.

          (2) A school district board of directors may not enter into a contract or agreement that requires students to regularly observe, listen to, or read commercial promotional activities.

          (3) A contract or agreement that permits commercial promotional activities that was entered into by a school district board of directors prior to the effective date of this act shall not be renewed by the board.

          (4) A school district is not prohibited from offering students the regular study of commercial advertising as an academic subject.

          (5) Nothing in this section shall prohibit commercial sponsorship of school activities.