Central increases sport choices, fixes parking lot

By Gail Peckler-Dziki Correspondent

The Central High School board approved joining the hockey co-op with Kenosha Unified. If Unified accepts Central into the co-op, Central students would be able to play hockey with Kenosha Thunder by 2013-2014.

So far, Unified has agreed to accept only Wilmot High School students into the co-op, but Central hopes that will change.

It all began last year when parents of hockey players in Wilmot’s district began working with that school board to join the co-op. At the time, Central officials stated that they were not interested. A concern now is that Central students who wish to play hockey will opt into Wilmot High School.

Dr. Scott Pierce, Central district administrator, said that the district couldn’t contribute any money to a hockey program. “The parents would have to pay the cost,” he explained.

One issue at Wilmot was that the district had a policy of not allowing parents to pay for participation in any WIAA sport. When district administrator Dan Kopp looked into the matter he discovered that a number of schools allow parents to pay partial costs. So now the district pay 50 percent up to $900 and the parents would pay the rest.

It currently costs $1,800 for each student to play on the Kenosha Thunder hockey team and if Unified agrees to accept Central as part of the co-op, Central parents of hockey players will foot that bill.

The students that would join Kenosha Thunder already haves years invested in the sport. “Hockey builds intense friendships. This will allow our kids to stay together,” commented Ted Kmiec, parent of a future Central student. “If it’s the price we have to pay for our kids to be happy than we will.”

 

Student parking lot to receive new surface

The student parking lot was last worked on in the 1990s. The bids are out and the work should start on June 10. According to Pierce, that lot is too disintegrated for patches to fix the problem.

“During addition construction, there were many heavy trucks that drove through that parking lot. The surface of that lot was not made for that type of traffic,” he said.

The cost or the reconstruction of that lot is estimated at about $200,000. Pierce said that funds from this fiscal year and some from next would cover part of the cost. “A good part of the funds will come from reserves. We aren’t willing to spend operating budget on it, because that covers instructional costs,” he commented.

 

Open enrollment numbers in

Open enrollments in and out are very close, 45 to 47. Pierce said that most open enrollment out was students who either had older siblings in other schools already or homeschooled students who were participating in virtual school.

“We are seeing more students from Kenosha Unified opting into Central,” he said.


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