The Plainfield School District 202 Board of Education awarded a contract to Express Signs & Lighting Maintenance for the purchase and installation of Daktronics video display boards at district high schools.
Officials unanimously approved the measure at the board’s June 27 meeting.
Board member Heather Drake requested a round of discussion prior to voting because she did not attend the last finance meeting.
Drake said she felt that the cost associated with the installation and purchase of the display boards struck her as a reason to be concerned.
“I’m struggling to spend that much money when you can get an electronic scoreboard that isn’t video for nine grand or less,” Drake said. “I guess I need more information as to why we need the video portion of it.”
District 202 will purchase four video display boards as part of the contract. Each would be computer-based and require little to no manual work to run them. As part of the agreement, the contractor will assist the school district in attracting advertisers to run advertisements across the boards.
The board will also allow the district to relay information on school-related activities, as well as provide a space to broadcast game replays.
Board Vice President Greg Nichols said upgrading the district’s current fleet of display boards is something to consider.
“Certainly, there’s a revenue stream aspect to it,” he said. “It could be $40,000 a year for each high school.”
In Joliet, University of St. Francis and the Joliet Slammers are already running video display boards.
Nichols said it makes sense to purchase the display boards for all four high schools, as opposed to buying them individually.
“Purchasing through the co-op does ensure us of a lower price than if we just went out and bought a separate one for each [school],” Nichols said. “I guess truly we could have a different for each school. Somebody could have a video board at East, and at South, it could be just old school. But, I think you run into an equity issue.”
In response to a question from Drake about maintenance, board member William Slabich said sections of the display board can be replaced if damaged.
Ultimately, the board voted to award Express Signs & Lighting Maintenance a contract worth $583,600.
“Once I understood better how it can become a revenue source, it made more sense to me then,” Drake said. “In basically five-six years, it could be making revenue for us.”
Round up
The District 202 Board of Education unanimously approved payment for the installation of an outdoor classroom at Lincoln Elementary School in the amount of $19,327. Funding for the project will be paid for using activity funds and PTA funds.
Officials moved forward with plans to purchase and install playground equipment at Freedom Elementary School. Voting in favor of this measure allows District 202 to allot $6,673.99 using PTO funds.
The board approved a contract, valued at $21,429.50, to pay PA Likes for landscaping at the main entrance to Plainfield South High School, using monies from the activity account and budgeted monies.