The agreement will provide Nike apparel for student athletes. (photo courtesy of BHUSD)

Following heated discussion, the Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education on May 13 approved a five-year agreement with BSN Sports for the participation in the Nike 360 Rewards Program, which will provide BHUSD Nike-branded apparel and gear for district sports teams and athletic programs for a discounted price.

Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, BHUSD teams across all schools will receive official Nike gear, while BHUSD-branded Nike merchandise will also be available for purchase to the community, according to the district. Under the contract, BSN Sports will be the exclusive provider of Nike products to the district. However, individual schools and teams are not required to purchase Nike products.

Benefits include 40% off Nike stock uniforms, 30% off Nike footwear and up to 20% off other products. Although the contract does not require a certain spending amount, if the district spends at least $225,000 annually, it becomes eligible for additional promotional benefits including $20,000 in annual Nike product credit and a one-time $40,000 “branding package.” The specific details of the benefits were not immediately made clear by the proposal.

“This partnership is a major step forward for BHUSD,” Superintendent Dr. Alex Cherniss said. “Our student-athletes will now compete in the highest quality gear available, and our entire community will benefit from enhanced branding and spirit wear that reflects the pride we have in each school.”

Although the concept of a streamlined, professional sports apparel program across the district was overall well-received by the board, the process in which it was approved caused argument among board members. The item was not marked as a discussion item and was instead placed on the agenda as a consent calendar. As a result, Board President Rachelle Marcus and Board Member Amanda Stern stated they were not prepared to vote on it due to a lack of information.

“I really like the idea and it’s a very exciting concept … What I’m questioning more is just the process of this because … consent calendar is sort of more routine things that we don’t necessarily have to deliberate about or aren’t as necessarily complex as some of the other issues,” Stern said. “I want to unpack this further and I am not prepared right now to vote on it because I think it is a big deal.”

Marcus echoed Stern’s concerns.

“This is an item that I felt, personally, did not belong on the consent calendar,” Marcus said. “This was something that really popped out as something that we should have a better discussion about … It mentions the PTA. I don’t know that the PTA has zeroed in on this and bought this. I have no idea. I know that they buy their own stuff and they get it cheap or they can do it much more reasonable than buying it at the Nike prices. I am not opposed to this, but I do feel that I would like more time to be able to analyze.”

Board Member Russell Stuart, the main proponent of the agreement who has previously expressed interest in improving the school’s athletic program, responded by stating that the board should focus on the direct impact the updated uniforms will have on student athletes.

“This is for the kids,” Stuart said. “I think we’ve always forgotten the fact that this is for the kids. So let’s stop talking about PTA, it’s for the kids. It’s so the kids can feel like professionals. It’s so the kids don’t have to go to another sports event and [watch] the kid across the field from him look like he’s in the NFL and we look like we’re the YMCA, and no offense to the YMCA. This is for the kids, everything we’re supposed to do up here is for the kids.”

Stern and Marcus expressed confusion over the proposal, questioning whether the program would require all teams to purchase uniforms from BSN Sports and whether it would result in overall savings.

“If educational excellence is really what we’re after, we want to unpack this,” Stern said. “These are huge corporations. I don’t know if I want to start–”

“I’m going to refute that statement,” Stuart interrupted. “If we started educational excellence while you’ve been on the board for five years you would have done something like this yourself. For five years you’ve been here and we’ve approved no outfits for anybody, and our kids are wearing pathetic clothing.”

Although there was disagreement, mirroring Nike’s “Just Do It” slogan, the board approved the item in a 3-0 vote, with Marcus and Stern abstaining.

At the end of the meeting, Stern and Marcuss expressed disappointment in the way the item was passed.

“I’m not happy. I’m going to be honest with you guys. I feel bullied and I don’t like the process of what we just went through,” Stern said. “Tonight we decided to table some of the technology apps so that we could have further consideration. A while back, I think last meeting, we decided to table the purchase of iPads for the same reason. It is a fundamental courtesy if someone asks to defer an item for further consideration, it should be honored. It was rude and it was not the governance I know, and I expect more. There’s a lot of us who listen, and there are some of us who talk over people, and we don’t feel like we are respected.”

“I felt disrespected in a way when … it was inferred that I don’t do things for kids. And I got very upset by that comment,” Marcus said. “If anybody has ever done anything for kids it’s Mrs. Marcus. I have been an advocate of students no matter where I go, what they do and so on. No one has given more time to students and to kids than myself. To say that because I wanted to delay something because I didn’t think it was the right thing to do, infer that I do not care about the kids – I was really quite upset.”