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The Tucson Unified School District Governing Board on Tuesday night approved the district's first foray into commercial advertising on the sides of school buses.

On a 3-2 vote, with board members Judy Burns and Adelita Grijalva dissenting, the board approved three new advertisers with the aim of having ads up and running by the first day of school in August.

District officials estimate the ads will generate about $36,000 in annual revenues, which will support the general fund. The ads are roughly 5 feet long and about 18 inches tall.

The district to date has allowed corporations to sponsor public-service announcements on its buses, but this is the district's first small step to a more commercialized advertising venture. Ads by the Geico insurance company play on the school theme, encouraging observers to "do the math" or saying: "Call and you could save. Class dismissed."

Burns said she voted against the move because "I don't like the idea of putting advertising on our students."

She also expressed concerns about safety. "I don't like turning buses into moving billboards so people are trying to read the bus instead of paying attention to their driving. And most of the ones I've seen, you can't hardly tell what they say, anyway," she said.

Grijalva supported two of the advertising campaigns, including one by the non-profit Educational Enrichment Foundation that is designed to support TUSD. The final advertiser, Health Choice Arizona, is an Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System provider. Listing a toll-free number, its ads ask observers whether they might qualify for the health-care service, which provides medical services to low-income families.

Grijalva, who uses Geico as her own provider, said she had nothing against the company, but she didn't want to see the district expand the role of private-sector advertising in schools.

Board member Bruce Burke, however, noted that the ads were vetted by the district's advertising advisory committee, which has rejected ads in the past for being too commercial.

Burke said this is a way for the district to generate revenue with what he called reasonable ads that were modest in size.

Geico ads will appear on buses on four to six routes. The number of buses the other two ads will appear on was not specified.

Robert Padilla, executive director of the Educational Enrichment Foundation, said the buses will serve as a forum to boost the foundation's name recognition in the district, which will only serve to funnel more resources into TUSD classrooms.

The advertising campaign comes as the foundation celebrates its 25th anniversary, he said, and comes at a time when the foundation is trying to expand through new mentoring and poetry programs.

"Programs such as these are stimulating our desire to get the word out," Padilla said.

In other action, the board:

● Approved renewing the medical program for district retirees, reversing a May decision to eliminate the administration of the plan. To help offset district costs, administrative fees will be charged to retirees based on the number who meet the enrollment deadline at the end of August. The compromise was spearheaded by new Superintendent Elizabeth Celania-Fagen. Applause broke out among the dozen or so former employees in the meeting room when the vote for approval was unanimous.

● Approved a new salary and benefits agreement with school administrators. The agreement does not include any wage increases. Other employee groups also are anticipated to see a flat line on raises this year.

"It's a rough year," Burns said. "Everybody in this state who works for government in any way, shape or form is having a rough year."