RACINE — On Monday, more than two dozen Case High School students, swimmers, divers and family members questioned the Racine Unified School Board’s past decision-making, claiming the board had twice promised — and twice failed — to repair its swimming pool.
They wore custom-printed T-shirts with phrases including, “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming. Where?” and “Seven days out of the pool makes one weak.”
The pool at Case, 7345 Washington Ave., which opened along with the school in 1966, is considered “structurally unsound” and unsafe. The Case swimming and diving team has been forced to have its practices at Park High School, 1901 12th St., but that may have to change when school starts on Sept. 4.
Estimates show that about $3 million is needed for a new Case pool, and installation could take 18 months.
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Several swimmers have already quit, but Taylor Knaus, 16, said there are still more than 20 on the team.
“Despite the taxpayers’ support, we stand before you today with an empty pool and empty promises,” Knaus told the board. “The Racine Unified School District has been promising to address this issue for over 10 years.”
Knaus’ teammate Madilynn Peterson, 15, said she’s worried the student-athletes’ performance and grades may suffer if they don’t have a consistent and accessible place to practice.
“Not being in our own pool would make it much more difficult to continue to ‘Fly High as Eagles’ and once again achieve such a high GPA,” Peterson said. “Due to odd practice times, which interfere with nutrition, sleep, homework and dry-land training, our team is in for a challenging season.”
Referendum funds
Two referendums — $16.5 million approved in 2008 and $127.5 million approved in 2014 — included plans to replace Case’s pool. RUSD used a new pool for Case as a selling point for encouraging voters to support the 2014 referendum.
But no repairs were made and none have yet been planned, according to RUSD documents.
In April 2015, $3 million — approximately the same amount necessary to fix Case’s pool — was allotted for several Case Fieldhouse renovations, including painting, reflooring, asbestos removal and a locker room remodel.
An upgrade to the pool’s geothermal/solar heating system was completed five years ago, although that is now useless because the pool is empty. The team claims that the system didn’t work anyway.
“We’ve had two referendums that have gone through and, as parents of students who have gone through the Unified School District and taxpayers, it’s a little disheartening that ... we’ve been put on the agenda twice for a pool and it hasn’t happened,” said Lisa Hart, the team’s booster club president. “Now we’re to the place where we have a condemned pool and nowhere to swim.”
Through the 2017-18 school year, $35 million of the $127.5 million referendum amount had been collected, but no money had been directed to fix the pool.
“We don’t want plans. We want action,” the team said in unison during the public comment period of Monday’s school board meeting.
Response
Led by Knaus and Peterson, team members and parents delivered a packet of documents to School Board members on Monday. The nearly 30-page packet included RUSD financial planning records, a letter from Racine County District Attorney Patricia Hanson, 23 testimonials from Case alumni, and a Journal Times report from 2010 about how “backlogged work” delayed RUSD maintenance projects such as fixing the pool.
Unified Superintendent Eric Gallien, who began in his new position on July 1 after three years as deputy superintendent, thanked the presenters for speaking with the School Board on Monday.
“While I cannot speak to the history of this incident or these repairs, I am very aware, and those things have come to my attention as I have stepped into this role,” he said. “I assure you that we will be working with the school community to come up with a plan that will address several potential options, and we will share that plan with the board.
“We plan to move forward with addressing this situation in a very transparent and open and honest way.”
Gallien assured meeting attendees that RUSD Chief Operating Officer Shannon Gordon would be getting in touch in the near future to continue trying to find a solution to the problem.
During the same meeting, a vote to add a referendum to this November’s voting ballot was deferred.
“We don’t want plans. We want action.” Case High School girls swimming and diving team, in unison