Photo Credit - Manitowoc Ships Baseball
A new procedure in the Manitowoc Public School District would set rules for outside groups looking to fund projects.
The district’s Finance and Facilities Committee heard about the Standard Operating Procedure last night (February 3rd) and how it would establish a clear, consistent, and transparent process to help the district work with fundraising groups and make sure nothing happens without full district approval.
Finance Committee Chairman Keith Shaw explained that upgrades to Municipal Field were approved by a previous school board in 2023, but nothing has moved forward since then.
At the time, there was no finance committee, and no plan of action was ever put forward. Shaw called the process from a couple of years ago through 2025 “faulty” and wished the board had provided more oversight before approving a major update project for the baseball field last year.
Superintendent Lee Thennes tells SeehaferNews.com that the district is seeing increased interest from fundraising groups and that their new Standard Operating Procedure will help.
The superintendent stated, “And makes it very, very clear, step by step, what we need to do to bring a project that has public interest and our interest to fruition.”
Future projects would go through the district’s Finance and Facilities Committee before anything could get started.
The current baseball field has come under scrutiny from residents after the district said they could have to borrow up to $500,000, but Thennes says more money still needs to come in from groups helping pay for the field.
However, the district could vote to use around $341,000 from one of its funds at next week’s meeting.
“From what I’ve seen, they’re still actively looking for donors,” he explained. “And as you heard here tonight, the board is pretty clear that they’re expecting this deficit between what we have to front now versus what we’ve collected. That gap will get paid back.”
Thennes said that so far, about $1.3 million has been invested in the new baseball field, and additional funds will be collected from sponsors.
Thennes said, “All in all, pretty good investment.”
The baseball field project is on hold for now due to the weather, but it should be completed this year.
Whether it’s fully complete by the time the 2026 high school baseball season starts isn’t yet known.
