H-M-S board fields scoreboard proposal

The benefits of video scoreboards for outdoor and indoor athletic facilities at Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn were again presented to the school board at its meeting on Oct. 21.

Representatives of Daktronics, a Brookings, S.D.-based company that manufactures scoreboards and other message display equipment, had visited with the board in the fall of 2022 about replacing scoreboards at the high school athletic facilities. The board at that time identified replacing the softball and baseball scoreboards as the top priorities.

The latest presentation by Daktronics focused on the benefits of replacing the scoreboard at Peterson Field, which was installed in 2003, and scoreboards in the high school gym. According to discussion, the benefits of video scoreboards are entertainment, opportunities for learning to create and operate video displays, and enhanced revenue.

Loni Haar showed mock-ups of new scoreboards. If the district indicates interest in moving forward, Daktronics will determine a dollar amount for the project and price points for digital advertising to be displayed on the scoreboards.

Jerry Sikkink, sports marketing director for Daktronics, said that advertisers could be divided into three groups. Revenue from top tier business advertisers would pay for the scoreboard(s), while a lower tier for individuals would generate additional revenue for the district. A project involving indoor and outdoor scoreboards would be optimum.

"It's nice having both sports. Both hit a pretty good market group," Sikkink said. "I've had some [districts] split them into two. It's your project."

He explained that advertiser agreements are between businesses and the district.

"You pay us for the equipment. Everything else is between you and the business," Sikkink said.

Daktronics assists with promotion of the advertising and offers training to those creating video displays and operating scoreboards during events.

The board made no firm commit to a scoreboard replacement project at this time.

• Enrollment numbers

The district's overall enrollment for 2023-24 is down four students from last year's certified enrollment of 636.6.

"That's a pretty good number in the grand scheme of things," said Superintendent Patrick Carlin.

He did advise the board that an increase in the number of students open enrolled to other districts (up 15) and fewer students actually living in the district (down 19) are statistics to watch in the future.

"There's not much you can do about that except grow your towns," Carlin said of the latter number.

One positive is that the number of students open enrolled into H-M-S this year increased by eight. Revenue from their home districts is forwarded to H-M-S, lessening the impact of the increase of students open enrolled elsewhere.

Carlin suggested the board could look at only approving requests for open enrollment to other districts that meet the deadline established by law.