The Los Angeles Unified School District Board has approved a policy authorizing Superintendent Ramon Cortines to enter into corporate sponsorships in an effort to generate revenues for the district’s cash-starved extra-curricular programs such as athletics, arts and music.

Under the policy approved Tuesday, the superintendent will be able to sign tentative agreements with sponsors who want to give up to $500,000 without first going to the school board for approval. The agreements would then go to the board for ratification. Any potential partnerships valued at $500,000 or greater must go to the board before being signed.

The district in the past has prohibited such corporate sponsorships.

“This new and creative approach in raising revenue for the general fund is good for the entire district,” Cortines said in a statement. “These programs would be used to support programs that directly serve students as well as create new sources of revenue for the district.”

Corporate donors would be able establish a corporate brand identity through signs but not engage in product promotion or sales. They would be allowed limited signage and other marketing or corporate branding at athletic facilities, or at music festivals or sports tournaments. The new policy includes a ban on support from alcohol and tobacco companies, fast food firms, high-calorie products and high sugar foods. In addition, sponsors would not be allowed to handpick schools, such as preferring campuses in more affluent areas instead of poorer neighborhoods.

Melissa Infusino, the district’s director of partnerships, said there are several potential sponsorship deals already in the pipeline, mostly sports-related that can now proceed.

The new policy is similar to the district’s recent “Save Our Sports” campaign, which raised $1.5 million to help pay stipends to coaches.