Crawford County R-1 Board of Education on Aug. 17 revisited a June 16 discussion regarding a Hudl subscription, eventually reaching a compromise as officials prepare to cut spending.

Discussion surrounding Hudl, a sports video analysis service, began in June when Superintendent Brian Witt suggested the board approve the premium package at a $15,000 rate. Witt said the service had significantly increased the baseline subscription cost from $6,500 to $10,000, and the premium package he suggested was $5,000 more.

However, with the cost increase comes new services, including expand coverage of sports, additional cameras, added storage and provided coaching tools. Board member Stephen Waldron said in the June meeting that it seemed like an excessive expense when they are already having to cut back due to budgetary concerns.

Budget and funding options were reviewed, and four possible recommendations were formed.

Option one: The board could approve the $15,000 premium package, and it would pay for $10,000 of it while the athletic department fundraises the rest.

Option two: The board covers $6,500 like they did last year, and have the athletic department fundraise the other $8,500 for the service.

Recommendations three and four are similar, but with the standard package. They can either pay the $10,000 baseline price, or cover $6,500 and the athletic department raises the remaining $3,500 for the service.

If officials approve with the premium package, softball and baseball would be added to the coverage. Waldron said that the $15,000 is just what they would have to pay for Hudl, but doesn’t include additional costs like setting up Starlink, an internet provider, for both fields.

Athletics Director Devon Payne said that the district has been using Hudl for about five or six years for indoor sports, including volleyball and boys and girls basketball.

“It registers, logs all of our game film, all of our stats, everything that we’ve compiled,” Payne said. “So like all of our hard data, all of our advanced stats, all of our game films, all of our scouting, all of those things are currently stored on that program.”

Originally, the intent behind getting the cameras was to stream during COVID. Now it’s still used for streaming, but also for stats, scouting and game film.

“Kind of an all-in-one software instead of piecing it out and going to two, or three or four different things or programs, that kind of does all of it,” Payne said.

Not only does the premium package cover baseball and softball, but it comes with high-definition cameras for the fields with an extra, an increase in storage and some additional add-ons for track and cross-country.

“It’s GPS monitors, basically like advanced Fitbits. There’s only a handful of those included. I believe it’s somewhere in the neighborhood of eight or 10, but it’s a new technology that they have, and the baseball and softball software is new this year,” Payne said.

Even though the upgraded package has many additional features, Waldron still doesn’t believe the price is worth it.

“I just know that whenever we start looking at making, you know, $750,000 in cuts for the district, and we’re looking at academic stuff that has to be cut and staff that we have to not replace,” Waldron said during the July 16 meeting. “I know it’s only $15 grand out of $12 million or whatever it is we have, but the fact is we’re deficit spending already for next year.”

Board member Ryan Cole asked how much the district used Hudl already. Payne said that, as the girls’ basketball coach, he uses it daily. As for students, he said that it is “hit-and-miss” and that it depends on the season.

A motion to keep the standard package with the board paying $6,500 and the athletic department raising the remaining $3,500 was approved with a 5-0 vote.

A motion to accept the tax rate for the 2026-27 school year at $4.121, with $3.186 per $100 of assessed valuation for the operating levy and $0.935 per $100 of assessed valuation for the debt service fund, was approved by a 5-0 vote.

In other business, Witt said that the Missouri School Boards Association has a policy addressing artificial intelligence (AI) that requires him to establish guidelines, best practices and procedures for use.

“These guidelines provide the district’s initial framework for using AI responsibly, safely (and) appropriately,” Witt said.

It will be reviewed quarterly. Witt tried to mirror many of the technology procedures when developing the guidelines.

A motion to accept the AI guidelines was approved with a 5-0 vote.