The Talawanda School Board approved the installation of a nearly $33,000 video wall in Talawanda High School’s cafeteria at its monthly board meeting on Feb. 8, despite questions from one board member about the lack of competitive bids for the project.
Three bids from separate companies were submitted to the school district for consideration, but, according to school board treasurer Shaunna Tafelski, two out of the three were incomplete. The district approved the lone complete bid, from New Era Technology, a technology installation and consulting services company with an office in Cincinnati.
Talawanda board member Dawn King was the lone no vote on the proposal. During the questioning period, King asked about the invoice.
“It’s kinda hard to vote when it’s not itemized by price,” King said. “How much are we paying for the equipment, how much are we paying for the installation, and how much are we paying for faculty/staff training?” she asked.
Tafelski said the wall will replace a projector system that has been broken since 2018.
“Discussions over the video wall have been taking place since 2019,” Tafelski said. “This past summer, the school board found room in the budget, and we decided it would be beneficial.”
According to principal Scott Davie, the video screen will run information about upcoming events for students, employees and the community.
“I have a son at the high school, and I understand the need,” King said in an interview. “But I would’ve liked to have some additional information to make that decision.”
According to the school board policy manual, “it is the policy of the Board of Education that the Superintendent seek at least three (3) price quotations, unless fewer quotations are available, on purchases of any supplies, materials, and/or equipment costing more than $10,000.”
The video wall will be constructed using nine video screens that are networked together. Similar video walls can be found online anywhere from nearly $8,000 to nearly $14,000 cheaper than the accepted bid, but these prices do not include components such as labor costs, receivers or HDMI ports, among others.
As of the time of publication, New Era had not responded to the Observer’s request for comment.
The school will work with New Era to determine when the video wall will be installed, Tafelski said.
