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Athletic director details memorials, program successes and proposes matching conference ticket prices
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Summary
Athletic director Gary Sutton described donated memorial seating and facility upgrades, recapped team achievements and proposed aligning single-game prices with the conference (raising varsity from $6 to $7); board members asked for outreach and clarification about student passes and implementation costs.
Gary Sutton, the district’s athletic director, told the board about a set of enhancement projects funded by donations and estates, recent program successes and a request to align single-game ticket prices with the conference.
Sutton said the district received $25,000 from the estate of Russ Sutton and will place a distinctive white framed bench with a plaque in his memory at home contests; a separate bench will honor longtime tennis coach Brian Smith at the tennis complex. “I wanted to do something that was really instrumental and kind of bold,” Sutton said of the memorial seating.
He highlighted athletic accomplishments — a boys basketball sectional title and regional berth, two state qualifiers in women’s wrestling and qualifiers in swimming and diving — and described new equipment such as a wrestling mat and an upgraded Hudl camera to better showcase events.
On ticket pricing, Sutton recommended increasing single-game varsity admission to match the conference (from $6 to $7, as reported in his packet) to keep pace with rising costs and higher official fees. He said student-admission policy allows grades 5–12 to receive passes and that a $20 all-season student pass is available; visiting students are charged $5. Board members asked how the $20 student pass is advertised and whether lower or waived student fees might increase attendance; Sutton said he sends information to primary and intermediate schools and used a Google form to register student passes.
The board discussed a statewide proposal to add a high-school shot clock, with Sutton estimating capital and installation costs of about $10,000 per main gym for a scoreboard-compatible system; he said the IHSAA and coaches’ groups are evaluating implementation and that any district decision would be years away. Sutton also briefed the board on emerging state-level guidance about high-school 'personal benefits' (NIL-like rules) and potential restrictions on school-branded endorsements.
The report was informational; the board did not vote on the ticket-price change at the meeting.
