Spearfish athletic director proposes districtwide move to Bound cashless ticketing; board to consider price changes in May

At the April 14 Spearfish School District 40-2 board meeting, Athletic Director Dalton Weidman outlined a proposal to adopt Bound (a high-school activity platform) for cashless ticketing, concessions and event scheduling across district buildings.

Weidman said the South Dakota High School Activities Association covered Bound for member schools for the last three years but will stop paying, and the district must choose a package. He described Bound Pro (cashless) as offering rosters, schedules, concession readers, camp registration and event scheduling. He recommended the district accept the base bid plus two alternates if the board chose to fund a full deployment; he noted an annual cost estimate of about $3,800 for some configurations but said the full desired package would cost more if the district declined Bound Pro's cashless package.

The board asked technical and pricing questions. Members asked whether Bound can surcharge card transactions or offer dual pricing (a lower cash price and a higher card price) and whether processing fees could be added to camp fees. Weidman said some vendors allow adding the processing fee but noted card surcharging rules vary ("you can't surcharge a debit card"). He said Bound provides transaction readers and reconciles sales records to improve auditing.

Weidman proposed modest increases to activity ticket and pass prices to cover the 90-cent-per-ticket processing estimate if the district chose not to raise prices broadly. He asked the board to add an action item in May to consider increasing activity ticket prices before implementing the cashless system. "At the May board meeting, I'd like us to add as an action item to possibly increase activity ticket prices," he said.

No vote was taken on April 14. Board members expressed general support and asked for additional details about surcharging, dual pricing and how fees apply to concession items and summer camps; the district will return with details at the May meeting.

Why it matters: Moving to a cashless ticketing and payments platform could change how parents and patrons buy tickets and how concession revenues are tracked and reconciled; it may require pricing adjustments, contract terms and decisions about whether to pass processing fees to purchasers.

Next steps: District staff will gather contract details and options for fee handling and present a formal action item on ticket/pricing decisions at the May board meeting.