Scoreboard proposal presented to school board

A proposal to replace the scoreboard at Shawano Community High School’s football field comes with a price tag of around $235,000, but officials are looking at business sponsorships to swallow up the costs so no tax levy dollars need to be used.

The proposal was presented March 16 to the Shawano School Board. The board had previously approved initiating fundraising efforts for the scoreboard and several other items, with officials noting that the existing scoreboard is malfunctioning and cannot be fixed.

The school would get the new scoreboard from Daktronics, based in Brookings, South Dakota, as the company has also provided the other scoreboards the district has, according to Joel Wondra, SCHS athletics director. The board would be larger than the existing scoreboard on the field, as it would also incorporate a video display on top and a decorative truss with the district’s logo and hawk mascot.

The board itself and installation will cost about $209,000, and then the remainder comes from prepping the site for installation, according to Wondra. Besides the video display, the board can be programmed to list the specific opponent that Shawano is playing instead of just saying “Home” and “Visitor.” Wondra noted that the district could opt for a cheaper board that did not have the digital programming.

“You can have a choice on the color of the bulbs — they’re all LED bulbs,” Wondra said.

The scoreboard would be moved to a different location near the field that allows for easy spectator viewing, as Wondra pointed out that it can be hard for many sitting on the bleachers or in the press box to see what the score is or how much time is remaining on the existing scoreboard because it is adjacent to the parking lot.

“You literally have to lean out from the person seated to your left so that you can actually see the board,” Wondra said. “If you’re in the press box, you have to stick your head out of the window to see the scoreboard.”

Daktronics provided school officials with a potential model for funding the scoreboard, according to Wondra. With advertising spots on the board and through the video displays, it is estimated that the board’s cost could be paid off within five years, he said.

Wondra said there are four anchor sponsor slots that would each be asked to contribute $6,000 annually for five years, four founding sponsor slots that could each bring in $3,500 per year for the same time period, and then 12 premiere sponsors via the video board that could each add $750 annually.

“We can customize this however we want,” Wondra said. “In year six and beyond, any revenue that is generated would be at the discretion and the use of the district.”

Not all of the board members seemed optimistic that the scoreboard could be paid through sponsorships. Board member Chris Gull, who has sponsored scoreboards in the past for both Shawano and Bonduel, commented that some of the prices are steep.

“I weigh out two different things — what’s the good it’s going to do for the community and then how many views is it going to get?” Gull said. “I look at that cost, and it seems kind of expensive for the number of views that you’re going to get.”

Board member Mart Grams said that the money that could be generated could go toward other things. He noted that $250,000 in revenue could help the district get four or five teachers, and that the scoreboard should not be a priority until the board fixes “its own house.”

“Yes, I understand the business these days, but this is pretty prostitutional to put ads up for a football game,” Grams said. “When did education become buyable? I find that pretty distasteful. Education should be education. Do we start selling books with sponsors on the back next? We’ve bought these five computers from Luigi’s.”

Superintendent Randi Anderson pointed out that the soonest the scoreboard could go in would be 2023, assuming the order goes in around May. She also said the scoreboard would not happen if there were not enough sponsors willing to pay the costs.

“We’re going to hit the fundraising really hard in April,” Anderson said. “We’ve got a person identified that will be partnering with Daktronics (to find sponsors).”

Board member Jamie Beyer was in favor of using naming rights as an additional resource to pay for the scoreboard.

“I think you see that at a lot of area schools being done,” Beyer said. “It’s not a new idea, but it’s smart.”

lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com