Maryville School Board approves sports, computer expenses

Maryville School Board approves sports, computer expenses 

Daily Times 

February 26, 2026 

By: Mathaus Schwarzen 

Tech took center stage at the Maryville School Board meeting Monday at Foothills Elementary School. The board unanimously approved expenditures for two items to improve football performance and update school safety. 

One item, a three-year contract for a Catapult athlete monitoring system, opens the door to additional safety and recovery opportunities for Maryville High School football. For $8,910 over three years, staff will lease technology-equipped vests that track metrics and monitor athletes’ performance in real time. 

In a letter addressed to the board, head football coach Kenny Cobble said the three-year agreement provides the best pricing window and will save the schools “nearly $3,000.” The agreement will be billed annually. 

He said the system will help “manage and reduce the risk of injury by monitoring fatigue levels and overtraining to allow for proactive intervention.” He added the technology will track metrics including speed, distance and player load, and help identify player strengths and weaknesses. 

He also said the devices will support rehabilitation efforts and help athletes return to “pre-injury performance levels.” 

Catapult One, the device manufacturer, lists customers including professional teams such as Chelsea Football Club, the New England Patriots and the Alabama Crimson Tide. 

Director of Schools Mike Winstead said the football team will cover the expense. 

School officials also approved spending just under $27,000 in technology funding for a video server to manage cameras at Foothills Elementary School. The computer hardware, provided by Central Technologies Inc., is part of a series of upgrades to replace aging equipment. 

Maryville City Schools maintains an on-site server at each school to store local camera footage. Winstead said the board will likely face additional requests to fund server replacements soon. 

“We have several that are very old and coming near the end of life,” he said. “This is one of them, and we’ll probably be back with others in the next six to 12 months.” 

The new server will cost slightly less than another replacement recently purchased for Coulter Grove Intermediate School, which Winstead attributed to the smaller number of cameras the system needs to process.