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Board approves Nike/BSN sports agreement and launches trademarking effort for district brands
Summary
The Beverly Hills Unified School District approved a 5‑year licensing partnership with BSN/Nike for athletic apparel and began a program to register district and school logos as trademarks; the vote drew public debate and two abstentions.
The Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education voted to approve a licensing agreement with BSN Sports (Nike licensee) that centralizes district athletic apparel and spiritwear and begins a district trademarking program for school marks.
Board members said the deal is intended to provide higher‑quality uniforms, a consistent visual identity and volume discounts for students, teams and parent groups. Trustee Stewart said the contract creates a single point of purchase and would let PTAs, boosters and the district access negotiated discounts and potential rebates while still allowing local groups to opt to purchase independently.
Supporters on the board framed the agreement as a way to improve student experience. “We are a professional institution. I want to treat this as if we are a university, not a K‑12 school,” Trustee Stewart said during discussion, praising expected discounts and donated team packages. The board also heard concerns about process: several trustees said the contract’s placement on the consent calendar limited public review and asked for more detail about PTA involvement, budget thresholds and termination rights.
The motion passed with three yes votes and two abstentions. Trustee Stewart, Trustee Manacheri and Trustee Sabag voted yes; Trustee Stern and Board President Marcus abstained. Board staff said the contract includes standard termination-for-convenience language and a 10‑day termination window before it would be executed by the district; staff also said the district is not committing program dollars now and would only realize discounts and rebates as purchases occur.
Separately, Superintendent Alex Chernis and staff briefed the board on a parallel initiative: registering and protecting district and school marks. District staff said they have identified more than 100 visual marks and plan to begin trademark filings to protect the district’s brand and to enable licensed merchandise. The board asked staff to provide a list of proposed marks and a cost/benefit summary before filings proceed.
The board did not decide a formal implementation timetable for PTAs or boosters to adopt the new purchasing structure; staff said local parent groups could continue existing practices or opt into the district program. Trustees asked staff to provide a written plan describing how PTAs and boosters can participate without being mandated to change their independent fundraising practices.
The board vote concludes this item; staff will return with implementation details, the proposed trademark list and answers to the process questions trustees raised.
Ending: The agreement is effective once the district completes final execution steps; staff said participation by non‑district purchasers (PTAs, boosters) would be voluntary and that the district will return with the trademark list and an implementation plan for how local groups can opt in or continue existing channels.
