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Print PageBy Marcus S. Marion | mmarion@waxahachietx.com

June 09. 2016 6:36PM

WISD growth drives $500,000 scoreboard purchase

PHOTO/ COURTESY OF CLYDE MELICK/WISD

Duncanville  High  School's  digital

scoreboard, which was unveiled  in 2008,

could  be  an  example  of  Lumpkins

Stadium's  newest  feature.  The  WISD

school  board  voted  on  and  approved  a

$500,000  purchase  for  a  new  digital

scoreboard  to  be  build  before  the  new

season begins in September.

The Waxahachie ISD school board approved the purchase of a $500,000 digital scoreboard to be placed at Lumpkins

Stadium by the beginning of the upcoming football season.

The decision is part of a new digital scoreboard initiative for campuses, approved at Monday’s called school board

meeting.

The initiative comes a little more than a year after voters approved a $125 million bond for the construction of a new

high school and renovations to other campuses.

“We really felt it was the time for a new electronic sign. We also have a bunch of other signage needs throughout the

(school) district to get information about the district on the school campus level,” said Clyde Melick, the Assistant

Superintendent of Facilities for WISD. “It was the perfect time to go get information and proposals, but the thing I

think was driving it was Lumpkins Stadium. What we agreed on only concerns Lumpkins, but it gives us the ability to

negotiate with Daktronics for the rest of the new scoreboards at the other campuses.”

Waxahachie High School has had the current scoreboard, which experienced technical difficulties several times last

season, since 2004, said Melick. The WISD school board originally planned to pair the construction of the new

scoreboard with the renovation of Lumpkins Stadium as part of a more than $20 million 2011 bond proposal, but

because of the previously projected cost of $750,000 and financial restrictions caused by the 2008 recession, only the

renovation was completed.

The timeline for all the scoreboards to be fully installed will take three to five years, Melick continued.

“It’s going to be a state-of-the-art, 18x32-foot digital scoreboard,” Melick said. “It will be able to display commercials, advertisements, replays and WISD

productions inside of the schools. Daktronics will also replace the sound system. I think in this day and age, where we’re all used to having four screens in front

of us, I think fans are used to a more cerebral experience. This is just catching up to the age of modern football and the excellent stadium we have.”

Before the vote, WISD Superintendent Jeremy Glenn reminded board members the scoreboard is a “luxury item” and the “district is not a rich district.” He

advised the board to be cautious about the district’s spending habits, regardless of the benefits.

The benefit won’t only be for those in the stands, it will also filter its way to those in the production studio in the Lumpkins Stadium press box. WISD officials’

plan is to use WHS journalism students, who are already well-versed in broadcast operations, to run live production during the football and soccer seasons.

There will be students from the various WHS media classes running cameras and the production booth to make it happen, so it’s not just a scoreboard, said

Greg Reed the WISD athletic director.

“I think it’s a potential situation where you could have community-type events people could come out and be a part of outside of sporting events,” he said. “It

will be a huge plus to be able to project our graduation on a screen. Right now, it’s a fixed, numbered scoreboard with a monochrome video attachment out

there, which has become more expensive to maintain than replace. A scoreboard’s there to keep score, but when you add video to it, there are endless

possibilities.”

Rather than use monies from the $125 million bond allotment, however, WISD plans to use the school district’s general fund, which is expected to gain $1.5

million by 2017, said Ryan Kahlden, the WISD assistant superintendent for business and finance and chief financial officer.

The extra amount in the general fund derives from an underestimation of student attendance. Kahlden said WISD projected 8,150 students to attend the area’s

schools, but actually saw 8,200 students enter WHS during the 2015-16 school year.

Because each student carries anywhere between $5,000 to $5,200 in regards to state-sourced revenues, WISD had roughly $250,000 extra in expenses to

spend on the new scoreboards. The other half of the payment for the scoreboard bill will come from re-purposed funds gained throughout the school year.

“With all governmental entities, you have fund accounting, like different checking accounts at a bank. Certain ones have restrictions on what you can spend the

money on, but for the main checking account for the district, anything allowable to have funds spent upon the general fund can be used for those purchases,”

Kahlden said. “We use the general fund to pay salaries, insurance, utilities and ongoing daily operations in the district. At times when the general funds have

proceeds that exceed in excess of the requirements for expenditures, you end up with a scenario where you can buy a $500,000 scoreboard.

“From school districts, you get money from revenues from the state of Texas based on the attendance of students and federal revenues, which is a very small

percentage. We budget every year on a very conservative budget to try to have additional revenues at the end of every year. This year we’re in a scenario where

our student attendance is higher than we anticipated than when we started this budget. In 2011, it was the right place, wrong time with the downturn of the

economy and now we’re benefiting from a function of under-anticipating student growth.”

Marcus is the sports editor for both the Waxahachie Daily light and Midlothian Mirror. Follow him on Twitter at @MarcusMarionWNI. Contact the sportsdesk at 469­517­1456 and on Twitter by using #WDLsports and #MirrorSportsNB in tweets!

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9/23/2016 WISD growth drives $500,000 scoreboard purchase - Gate House

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