The Atlanta Braves paid more than $27,000 for the Cobb County School District’s back-to-school folder that was covered in team advertisements and distributed to some 112,000 students on the first day of school, Aug. 1.
The folder, which inside featured a color centerfold rendering of SunTrust Park with “COMING SOON TO YOUR BACKYARD” written across the top, also contained two glossy Braves advertising inserts mixed in with official school district paperwork.
“Season tickets for the inaugural season at SunTrust Park are on sale now,” says one insert. The other advertises a free Braves Kids Club membership.
School district officials say it is a normal practice to sell advertising on the folder so that the cost doesn’t come out of funds dedicated to classrooms. The 2015-16 folder was funded by ads from the Atlanta Hawks, the Credit Union of Georgia, Cobb EMC and the Cobb Schools Foundation.
Still, this year’s advertisements raised some eyebrows on social media.
“Apparently, it is not enough that the Braves own the entire county government. They now own the school district too,” said one commenter on Facebook’s closed-group Cobb Candidate Forum. “They may be (43-72) on the field, but they’re achieving world domination in the field of government. Go Braves!”
Grant Rivera, the school district’s chief of staff, was responsible for this year’s folder after funding and production was handled by the Cobb Schools Foundation for several years. Rivera said he approached the Braves about being the sole sponsor of the folder this year.
The folder “is a budget item that to the greatest degree possible we seek sponsorships to offset the cost,” Rivera said. “That has been a consistent practice in Cobb. To that end, my intent was to cover the cost of the folder so we don’t have to pull it from other sources.
“The Braves and Cobb County Schools had interest in giving the Braves the opportunity to be the sole sponsor.”
Rivera said the Braves have also agreed to a larger “partnership” with the school district. While some of the details are still being worked out, the partnership will include:
- A literacy program in which kids can win game tickets for reading, and might include players or team officials reading to kids at schools.
- A student leadership program in which about four students from each of the county's 16 high schools will meet once a month in a leadership development course that will be led by Braves executives, or executives from companies in the Braves' mixed-use development, called The Battery Atlanta.
- Support of STEM education that will include field trips to the stadium and mixed-use development in support of STEM-related academic programs.
- Teacher grants, recognition and recruitment: the Braves Foundation will set aside an undetermined amount of money for teacher grants; will recognize award-winning teachers during games, and open their facilities, which can accommodate large crowds, for the school district's job fairs.
- Jobs for students and teachers, which could also include allowing education non-profits to raise funds through their concessionaires.
The Braves didn’t respond to AJC questions by press time. Rivera said there is no contract with the Braves related to the partnership, which he called “informal and organic.” But Rivera said he hopes it will be a “model for school districts across the country.”
“It was my feeling we could take the momentum of the Braves coming to Cobb and impact students in the classroom,” Rivera said. “We thought it was a unique opportunity, given the size and scope of the Braves’ project.”
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