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Proposal to add digital scoreboard at Deerfield High School hits new snag, this time, with District 113 board members

The Deerfield High School Athletic Booster Club has spent more than a year securing financing, donor pledges and advertisers to try and add a new digital scoreboard at Adams Field.

The scoreboard, the organization has said, is needed to replace a 25-year-old obsolete one and would be capable of providing instant replays, player profiles, graphics and statistics on full and split screens. It also could serve as a revenue generator that would support the school’s 31 teams for years to come, the booster club has said.

But now, the ongoing work to secure a new scoreboard appears to have stalled after board members at Township High School District 113 recently expressed concern about the club’s plan to finance the $300,000 scoreboard with borrowed funds.

Some members have said the proposal carries too much risk. Board members also have questioned costs that ultimately could be borne by taxpayers.

“In a sense, a large portion of this gift becomes, really, a reallocation of funds away from what is currently going toward the sports programs,” district board member Michael Perlman said at a recent board meeting.

Perlman said that based on his understanding of the financing, the booster club would look to reduce its contributions to sports program by 50 percent during the term of the loan that would cover some of the costs of the scoreboard.

“I respect them establishing their own priorities, but if it doesn’t match the district’s priorities, we have to work with them to determine if it makes sense for us,” he said.

Board member Daniel Struck recently expressed similar reservations with the idea that a scoreboard that has been promoted as a gift would have to rely on a loan.

“I would love to be able to say ‘yes’ to an incredibly generous gift of a new scoreboard, but I fear this is something more,” said Struck, adding how he was particularly concerned about a $71,000 balloon payment that would be due at the end of the five-year loan term.

Struck said the club also may be faced with a situation where it would need to extend the loan and the length of time, if its assumptions about advertising revenue prove inaccurate.

“This is more than we can afford right now,” Struck said. “I would like to see District 113 and the boosters work on a more affordable proposal that can be taken on in a less risky way.”

Larry Letwat, president of the DHS Athletic Boosters Club, declined to comment on the issues raised by some District 113 board members during the June 17 board meeting.

He said he preferred to wait for the school board’s decision on whether to accept the gift. But while appearing before the District 113 board in May, Letwat offered assurances the club’s financing plan is solid.

Letwat said the club intentionally does not accumulate funds for major projects because all funds go immediately to support student athletes.

“That is contrary to what we believe in and what booster clubs across the country do,” he added.

A letter from Deerfield Bank & Trust, the club’s lender, also has confirmed that District 113 would not need to guarantee the loan, he said.

“The reason they gave us the loan is because they have faith in us,” Letwat said. “They understand that we can’t do it ourselves.”

In 2011, the club contributed $515,000 toward the $1.2 million cost of installing synthetic turf at Adams Field, Letwat said. The club raised about half of its portion from large contributors and families.

District 113 provided the organization an interest-free loan for the remainder, he said.

“We have done this before,” said Letwat, adding the club has paid off similar amounts under similar terms without the strong advertising base that exists today.

Still, some board members recently have said protocols outlined in a board policy that was adopted in 2016 have not been followed during the club’s work to secure a new scoreboard.

The policy requires an organization, such as the booster club, to obtain board approval before it starts to raise funds for restricted gifts of $20,000 or more. Restricted gifts are those earmarked for a specific use.

“Unfortunately the process, for reasons I don’t know, fell apart somewhere along the line,” Perlman said. “The policy wasn’t followed. The process wasn’t followed.”

Board member Stacey Meyer said she’s conflicted about accepting the club’s gift as presented.

“It’s not the gift I would have wanted,” Meyer said. “If I had designed it, it definitely would not be as big. That is a little disconcerting to me, but that is what is being offered.”

Superintendent Bruce Law, who started at District 113 in May, said officials also have been updating the district’s capital plan covering all of the the district’s facility needs, including scoreboards at both Deerfield and Highland Park high schools. He acknowledged the current scoreboards are nearing the end of their useful life.

Law said that if District 113 did not have the offer from the booster club, administrators would be proposing that both scoreboards be replaced during summer 2022. District board members are planning to further discuss the district’s capital needs and how the scoreboards factor into the district’s priorities.

Even though district officials originally wanted the Deerfield Village Board to waive certain procedures in May and take a vote on the zoning changes that would allow the new scoreboard to be built, they now have asked the village to defer action to give the district board more time to weigh the club’s proposal.

The proposed scoreboard also has upset some neighbors, who live near Deerfield High School and first raised quality-of-life issues to the Deerfield Plan Commission earlier this year.

After some negotiation between the parties, the commission recommended approval of a digital screen up to 600 square feet for use during high school school athletic events and up to six community events that end by sundown a year.

The commission also recommended additional landscaping to screen the scoreboard from nearby properties in the North Trail subdivision.

District 113 also has proposed relocation the scoreboard from the south end zone to the north end zone for security and aesthetic reasons. The $24,000 cost of fiber optic cabling to the new location would be paid by the school district, officials have said.