SHEBOYGAN FALLS – Critical updates to the Sheboygan Falls High School football field that were not backed by a previous referendum will receive support from a $300,000 sponsorship.
The sponsorship from the National Exchange Bank Foundation, formerly the Stone Foundation, which also comes with naming rights of the field for a decade, was approved by the School District of Sheboygan Falls Board of Education at its April meeting.
“We are very excited to see this donation benefit the students, the school district and the community,” Mike Heinen, assistant vice president of lending for National Exchange Bank & Trust, who facilitated the request to the foundation, said in a news release.
Zach Pethan, superintendent of the School District of Sheboygan Falls, said funds will cover the majority of costs to install a new crown and drainage ditch, along with regrading and resodding the natural grass field.
The school district anticipates work will begin after the high school football team’s 2026 season and finish in time for the 2027 season.
Pethan said the field hasn’t seen major improvements since the 1970s, shortly after the high school opened in 1969.
Sponsorships will fund athletic improvements not supported by referendum
This is the first major sponsorship secured by the school district since it released a sponsorship guide on the heels of two failed capital improvement referendums.
The school district’s fall 2024 proposed referendum offered two questions — one about school facility improvements amounting to $78.3 million and the other about high school athletic updates, like an auxiliary gym addition, multisport turf field and track, and new equipment with a price tag of $21.5 million.
Pethan said the school board and the district heard feedback that community members thought some of the needs, like athletic improvements, should be supported by private donations.
“We’re really proud of what we were able to do with our local businesses and do something really great for kids,” Pethan said about the sponsorship.
The school district’s revised referendum proposal on the spring 2025 ballot, with a reduced ask of $70 million, also failed, but it focused on academic programs and infrastructure needs.
Pethan said those areas will remain the focus as the school district prepares to pitch a revised referendum to the community for a third time this fall, this one with a base plan estimated at $65 million.
“We heard loud and clear that everybody thought our April referendum, even though we trimmed almost $30 million off of it, was too much,” he said.
The sponsorship guide offers various sponsorship levels for various areas of the high school, like the auditorium, gym, soccer field, and band and choir rooms.
The district is working to address infrastructure needs that helped reduce the referendum price point, like purchasing a new freezer for the elementary school, updating high school basement and softball diamonds with the assistance of recreation department funds, and installing new roof segments over the summer.
Contact Alex Garner at 224-374-2332 or agarner@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Sheboygan Falls schools land first major sponsorship after referendums
Reporting by Alex Garner, Sheboygan Press / Sheboygan Press
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