Martha King Elementary to get digital sign

When Jason Schrock took over as principal of Martha P. King Elementary School a few years ago, one of his goals was to ensure that the lines of communication between the school, parents and community were wide open.

One way of doing that, which is currently in the early stages, is placing a digital marquee in front the of the school, in the same location as the current non-digital version.

“The current marquee out there is a labor of love for our custodian,” Schrock said. “She has to place each letter individually. So, we’re very limited in the information we can provide our parents. Another thing, it’s not lit at night.”

The school does send information out to parents, but Schrock said the marquee will provide information for not just parents but the community in general, who may be interested in events or the goings-on at the school.

“Being able to have something that you can shuffle through a lot of information in a digital format is something we’re very interested in doing,” he said. “It will help us reach more parents and the community and at the same time be better communicators, which is the ultimate goal.”

The school worked with construction management through Clark County School District but the cost of the digital marquee would come from the school’s annual budget.

The idea of buying a new marquee is one that started at the beginning of the school year. Being that it carries a hefty price tag of around $50,000, Schrock said he knew this was not something the school could afford on its own. As he pointed out, that’s more than half the cost to employ a new teacher for a year (wages and benefits). So, to choose between the marquee and a teacher was a no-brainer. That’s why it was decided to elicit support and donations from the community – specifically businesses.

“The last thing I want to say is that a sign is more important than a teacher because it’s just not,” he said.

To date, the school has sent out donation letters to several businesses and Schrock has spoken to the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce’s members and other organizations and is happy to speak to even more.

“At this point we have spoken to a lot of people who have expressed interest in supporting this project,” he said. “I think they’re trying to figure out what level of support they can offer.”

The first phase of this project, and about half the cost, is to provide electricity to the sign. From there the LED panels would be added. The plan is to put the new marquee in the same box as the current one, which will save money. It will be 6 feet wide and 4 feet high.

Schrock said the school could afford to cover half the project’s cost, even though ideally it will be fully funded by donations. Unlike the scoreboard at the high school football field, where large donors have their names displayed on the sign for a certain number of years, because of the size of the planned marquee, that is not possible. Instead, based on the level of donation or sponsorship, the business name or logo would appear on the sign for a certain length of time, by way of a thank you, which would increase based on the amount donated. But, if a large enough donation were to be received, they would make room on the exterior of the marquee and have that business’ name up permanently.

As for a time frame, he said it’s pretty open as they raise funding for the initial phase. And because the project is through the school district, he was told there is no rush to begin work.

“It’s really going to be based on interest,” Schrock said of the project’s completion date. “Would I love to see it happen over the next two years, I really would. It’s something that’s needed for our school.”

For more information on this project, contact the school’s office manager, Tami Pratt, at 702-799-8260.

Contact editor Ron Eland at reland@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9523.