Local donations benefit Paso Robles High School and Glen Beck Elementary
PASO ROBLES — The Paso Robles Joint Unified School District Board of Trustees accepted several donations during the Tuesday, Sept. 24, meeting. Over $6,000 in donations was received for Paso Robles High School and Glen Speck Elementary School.
Donations accepted are the following:
- North County Orthodontist donated $540 in support of the Paso Robles High School Floral Department.
- Paso Robles Heating and Air donated a supply of water bottles for Paso Robles High School students valued at $4,000.
- Charities Aid Foundation donated $500 in support of Glen Speck Elementary School.
- Bank of the Sierra donated $1,000 in support of Glen Speck Elementary School.
- Mary Patricia Rath Trust donated $200 in support of the Paso Robles High School Theater Department.
Trustees also discussed a new board policy on streaming high school sports.
“The ability to watch live athletic events online has become common practice for many people after the COVID-19 pandemic forced us all to isolate from each other,” said Paso Robles High School Athletic Director Michael Sauret.
An added benefit to streaming is that it allows more exposure of PRHS athletes to a national audience, including college recruiters. It also gives PRHS alumni located all over the world the opportunity to watch the games.
Sauret added, “One aspect of streaming that I love the most is that it provides access for all family members who cannot necessarily attend games actually stream those events.”
Staff is looking into a contract with the National Federation of State High School Sports (NFHS), which is known as the “Netflix” of high school sports streaming. NFHS has streaming easily accessible through different apps via phone, tablet, computer, and TV with streaming capabilities.
Currently, the high school is streaming games through its PRHS Athletics YouTube account. During the Sept. 13 football game against Righetti, there were about 500 people streaming the game live, and over 650 people streaming the rival game against Atascadero on Sept. 20. The NFHS would allow for higher-definition streaming capabilities.
According to Sauret, there are more than 800 California schools using NFHS, including Templeton, St. Joseph, and Nipomo high schools. Having the contract with NFHS would also allow the district to stream postseason games.
NFHS has a monthly subscription fee of $11.99 and CIF ticket prices are $10 and $7 per game, with 20 percent of the proceeds going back to Paso Robles High School. Subscriptions can be canceled anytime. NFHS will install and provide equipment to the district to stream. There is no other costs to the district.
A contract with NFHS will be brought forward to the trustees at a future meeting for final approval.
The district is looking to change Board Policy 1113 relating to district websites.
The reasons for the recommended changes are:
- To add language that includes livestreaming and podcast recordings of students, which will allow sports livestreaming contracts in the future
- Because this policy has not been updated since Oct. 25, 2011
- It has not been changed when staff positions were eliminated (i.e., webmaster)
- It has not been updated with current updates to technology capabilities and practices.
The next Paso Robles Joint Unified School District Board Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 8, at 6:30 p.m.
