By Ben Rodgers
Editor
DE PERE – For $200,000, the naming rights to the home bleachers at the De Pere High School stadium could very well be yours.
At its Monday, Jan. 6, meeting, the Finance Committee of the De Pere school board looked at the amounts of donations required to obtain naming rights for the stadium upgrade project.
“We just want to make sure before we approach anybody that the board is OK with the whole, or if there’s questions or modifications,” said Superintendent Ben Villarruel.
The presented schedule will still need to be approved by the full school board, which could happen as soon as its next meeting Jan. 20.
Aside from the home bleachers, other items include the press box for $100,000, the ticket entrance for $75,000, the plaza for $75,000, the visitor bleachers for $50,000, the shot put/discus area for $25,000, the long jump/triple jump/pole vault area for $25,000, the high jump area for $25,000, an area of field turf for $25,000 and the front fence pillar for $25,000.
Athletic Director Jeff Byczek said the naming rights amounts are similar to Preble High School, which is also building a new stadium.
At the Dec. 9 school board meeting, preliminary sketches of the project were released.
Those show the total price tag of the project at $3.06 million.
The grandstand would be closer to the track than it is now in the current stadium, which would be torn down and the upgraded one built from scratch.
A standing-room-only deck would provide about 130 square feet of standing area for small groups.
The home-side bleachers could seat 2,000 and would accommodate two wheelchairs, plus a companion seat for each.
Storage below both home and visitors section bleachers (500 seats) could store track and field equipment, with access from overhead doors on the back of the bleachers.
School Board President David Youngquist said it’s unlikely the amounts will be changed.
“I know we’re in a committee meeting, but I can’t imagine we’re going to alter them,” he said.
The tentative schedule is to get bids out and apply for permits in January and February, go back to the school board with an update in early March, get the site prepared to break ground in mid-May while keeping some areas open for athletes, and to finish the project by the middle of August.
Available open enrollment seats
It’s that time of the year where districts need to finalize available open enrollment seats, and the numbers for the 2020-21 school year aren’t changing much for De Pere.
Jerry Nicholson, director of pupil services, presented the committee with a recommendation for available seats.
It calls for 25 open seats for 4K, zero open seats for 5K through eighth grade, no limit on the open seats for general high school and two special education seats for high school.
Nicholson said the biggest change is guaranteeing enrollment for siblings of current students during the regular open enrollment period, Feb. 3 to April 30.
After April 30, enrollment for siblings would not be guaranteed.
“What Ben (Villarruel) and I thought was a good compromise was we would guarantee their acceptance during the open enrollment period… because that gives us time to adjust our staffing and other things,” he said.
The district allows students who currently attend guaranteed acceptance for the next year.
The full school board is likely to act on this recommendation at the Jan. 20 meeting, because available seats need to be finalized with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction by the end of January.