Central Lee board favors move to Southeast

NOT JUST WINS AND LOSSES

I totally get the baseline for why we’re evaluating this.  And it’s not lost on me at all that we’ve got an opportunity and a challenge in growing competitive opportunities for younger children. I hope that’s what this comes down to, and not wins and losses.”

Mark Hulsebus, Central Lee board director

DONNELLSON – A presentation made during the last Central Lee school board meeting is going to turn into a recommendation to join the Southeast Conference starting in 2028.
The board held a workshop early Tuesday morning to dig deeper into the pros and cons of requesting membership in the conference that features larger southeast Iowa schools including Burlington, Fairfield, Washington, Keokuk, and Fort Madison, and in 2028, will likely include Oskaloosa, and now possibly Central Lee.
Oskaloosa made an official request in April and that request will need approval from conference schools and a state conference realignment committee.
The Central Lee board, following Tuesday’s workshop, will get a recommendation from Superintendent Dr. Andy Crozier to join the conference at its June 16th meeting. The workshop was to hash out any concerns the board had with switching conferences.
“Let’s just start talking,” said board member Mark Hulsebus.
“From my perspective, I totally get the baseline for why we’re evaluating this.  And it’s not lost on me at all that we’ve got an opportunity and a challenge in growing competitive opportunities for younger children. I hope that’s what this comes down to, and not wins and losses.”
Hulsebus said he does have concerns about sustaining enrollment increases as well as all the science and music, in which the district has strong credentials.
“Clearly, there’s a gap in the Southeast Conference with respect to excellence in those areas,” he said.
Crozier said from the perspective of those non-athletic concerns, Central Lee carries the conference.
“If we don’t participate, those things die in our conference,” Crozier said.
He said the music department can continue to seek opportunities in the the current conference even with the switch because those schools would welcome the Hawks' presence.
Crozier said the Southeast Conference will continue to evolve as it grows. The Conference has been at six schools for about five years.
Crozier said the district will be a 3A school by 2028 based on current enrollment numbers that will make up the district BEDS (Basic Enrollment Data Survey) number, which counts district students in 9th-11th grade, in 2028.
Board member Brock Westfall said he’s not afraid of putting Central Lee baseball and softball up against any team so he asked if it was an issue of moving the needle on basketball and volleyball.
Crozier said from a pure competition level, Central Lee would probably fare better in the Southeast Conference in volleyball than the Super Conference where Burlington Notre Dame, Holy Trinity, and West Burlington are regularly among the best in the state.
Westfall said the underlying problem seems to be lack of participation in athletics, fine arts, and other extra-curriculars for younger students. Crozier said it’s deeper than that in that rural areas don’t have the same opportunities as metro areas.
“It’s a competitive imbalance just based on where you live,” he said.
Central Lee Activities Director Tyler Bryant said starting the process now will allow the junior high students to get a feel for what the new conference will be like, because junior high activities can include Southeast Conference schools now.
He said sometimes Central Lee student athletes have a bad mindset when it comes to playing bigger schools and that will also be addressed by changing conferences.
“I tell the kids all the time, it’s a mindset. If I tell the kids, ‘Hey, we’re going to play Pella tonight’, they’d be 'we’re doomed. We’re going to lose' rather than saying, ‘Hey, let’s take these guys on'.
“Our kids get scared of these names, like a Washington. I tell them we can’t back down from a challenge. Most likely those highly talented teams we're playing are the ones playing longer in the post-season.”
Bryant said he discussed the move with the fine arts directors and said there was a little opposition because the Super Conference has more musical events and there would be fewer opportunities for students there. 
Bryant said the Southeast would probably be excited about Central Lee's entrance in those programs because of the leadership qualities of the district's instructors.