The details
The sponsorship would generate $490,750 for the district over the contract period in addition to in-kind services the district has yet to quantify, Marketing Coordinator Beth Robb said.
The district is looking to alternate revenue streams as it faces an increasing budget shortfall over the next four years culminating in an almost $15.5 million shortfall by fiscal year 2026-27, according to district data. The FY 2023-24 budget shortfall was nearly $5.2 million. The lack of additional state education funding at the close of the fourth special session of the 88th Legislature has exacerbated the issue. The basic state funding allotment for Texas school districts has not been increased since 2019.
"It really is a shame and unfortunate that our state officials can't understand or see the financial crisis that school districts are in," board President Cameron Bryan said.
The backstory
The sponsor was initially approved in November for two years, but after reviewing the signage cost, officials with the medical center asked to amend the contract to five years and include an exclusivity clause to limit any full-service medical centers from advertising in Dragon Stadium for the contract term, Robb said.
“As they came to do the site visit and figure out their proposal for signage, they realized it was going to be more substantial than they expected, and so they wanted to amortize that expense over a longer period of time,” she said.
The board of trustees approved the amendments at a March 25 meeting.
The details
The sponsor’s signage could be featured on the facade of the stadium entryway as well as above the press box in the stadium’s interior. The district also agreed to run the medical center’s digital advertisements on the stadium scoreboard during games and allow it to have a tabling kiosk event, Robb said.
As part of the sponsorship, Methodist Southlake Medical Center will offer CISD staff and students additional services and benefits.
Carroll ISD employees will receive access to mobile telehealth coverage, on-site mobile mammography screenings within the school district and expedited primary care through Methodist Family Health Center in Southlake, according to district documents.
The medical center will provide school nurses with education on stopping bleeding, CPR, first aid and overdose reversal using Narcan. Additionally it will offer telehealth options for pediatric patients, with parental consent, with board certified physicians at Methodist Family Health Centers. Nurses will also be fitted for personal protection equipment. These services seek to reduce the need for parents to take kids out of school to go to the doctor.
More details
Students can expect additions to the CISD athletic program services that include a concussion injury clinic, financial support for athletic trainers, sports medicine conferences, and nutrition and hydration training, according to documents. The medical center will help develop injury protocols that are substantiated by a board certified sports physician and offer sideline management of athletic injury training to all athletic trainers and student aides.
Through this partnership the district will also see an expanded on-site clinic within the school district, gain access to Methodist-sponsored health fairs at the school district and presentations for school district staff to educate parents on various health care topics.
Also of note
The exclusivity clause only pertains to full-service facilities, such as Methodist Southlake Medical Center, which means the district’s sponsors such as Cook Children's Healthcare system can continue to advertise since they have a specific pediatric focus, Robb said. There are no sponsors in conflict with this clause.
“It's specific to Dragon Stadium, not any of our other facilities or any of our other venues where we have advertising,” she said.
District officials ensured the contract pertains only to CISD events, and its strictures would not apply should the district rent the stadium to another entity that then brought in its own sponsors, Robb said.
“The only lost opportunity would be if there was another full-service, inpatient-outpatient medical center who was interested in [advertising at the stadium],” she said.
