Board OKs portable scoreboards, holds off broad public use of digital stadium displays

The board discussed the district's new stadium digital scoreboards and approved buying two portable electronic scoreboards as a short‑term alternative while administrators draft a policy governing outside use of the full digital systems. Dr. Vitale said the district purchased two large digital scoreboards (the presentation listed an initial budget of $321,699 each) and raised concerns about training, liability, warranty coverage and staffing. She told the board any outside agency use would require district personnel to run the system rather than training outside groups to operate it. Chuck Daley, who demonstrated the press‑box equipment, described the operation as multi‑component and said it requires both a laptop (graphics) and an iPad (score control) plus multiple switches and an audio console; he said the full graphic function is not a one‑person job and noted that "you are realistically looking at 2 people" to operate the system for full digital content. The presenters explained the technical risk that a single piece of equipment could fail and that repair or replacement could leave the district without the full board for events. As an interim measure, administrators proposed buying two portable electronic scoreboards at about $7,000 each (funded from St. Luke's money), which can be used by outside groups without operating the full Daktronics systems. The board voted to authorize purchase of portable scoreboards not to exceed $8,000 per board and later confirmed authorization to proceed at approximately $7,000 per unit; the motion stated the purchase would use St. Luke's funds. The board also asked administration to return with a recommended update to Policy 707 (use of school facilities) that would specifically address the new digital scoreboards, training requirements, staffing/pay for schedule B personnel, and a fee structure for outside organizations. Board members and staff discussed alternatives including cross‑training district staff, creating a student/educational business model to produce and sell digital content, and purchasing portable units that outside groups could use with minimal district supervision. Administrators indicated they will develop a written policy and staffing/pay recommendations and bring them back for committee and board review before broadly authorizing outside use of the stadium digital displays.