Prince William School Board members like the idea of ads on buses. Prince William Delegates don’t.

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY — The Prince William County School Board like the idea of ads on school buses.

It met convened on February 7 and took a straw on this subject, and the board voted in favor of the advertising 5-3.

If the bill is signed into law, the board has voted to move forward with this initiative, placing ads on the sides of school buses much like those of OmniRide or Metro buses.

Pursuant to the House Bill 2222, from the General Assembly meeting in January, commercial advertising on the sides of the school bus between the rear wheels and rear of the bus is permitted as long as it follows these guidelines:

• It does not obstruct the name of the school division or the school bus number
• It is not sexually explicit
• It does not pertain to alcohol or food or beverages that do not meet the nutrition standards developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture

Additionally, these statutes also permit school related advertising in the same area of the bus, provided it does not obstruct the name of the school, division or number on the bus.

The legislation is sponsored by Delegate Israel O’Quinn (R-Bristol, Galax). It passed the House 68-29.

Tim Hugo (R-Fairfax, Prince William) was the only Delegate from Prince William County to support the measure.

The rest of the county delegation — Delegates Danica Roem, Hala Ayala, Elizabeth Guzman, Luke Torian, and Lee Carter all voted no on the measure.

After crossover, the bill is now being reviewed in the Senate’s Public Education Subcommittee.

The legislation is similar to a bill that died in 2013, proposed by Senator Bryce Reeves (R-Fredericksburg).  That bill did not allow advertising of any religious nature — something that the current bill does not address.