EDITORIAL– by the Outlook’s Dave Schmidt

(5-21-25) Celina City Schools Board of Education members at a March meeting voted to keep the Fieldhouse to make use of its locker rooms and other amenities.

Here is the rub... high school basketball games will be played in a new gymnasium once the ongoing grades 7-12 school building is completed. Does anyone even know what the new gym will look like, the cost etc.?

The following is from an Editorial we did on 11-21-24 ….EDITORIAL: Celina Schools Athletic Building Project Disappointments

The new building effort was implemented by a Superintendent (Ken Schmiesing) and school board who suddenly jumped ship before the first building was completed. New school board members came in and were greeted by an interim superintendent (Brenda Boeke), her job was to be the ‘little Dutch Boy’ and not let the dam break. This school year a new superintendent is brought in just as the ‘Titantic‘ is about to approach the iceberg and basically told here you to go and fix it.

In an email sent to SSN today (5-5-21) from Dr. Kenneth J. Schmiesing, Superintendent he confirmed the news-

The Fieldhouse is planned to continue to be used. Our plans included our building onto the north end of the Fieldhouse for updated ADA locker rooms which would serve both the basketball and football team’s needs.

Let’s face it this building project has been a major flop, not that the buildings are a bad addition, but the disappointment it has caused the Celina school community with constant changes and surprises.

A project that will be completed after complications every other day. Some will blame the current administration board and administration, but that is not the problem. Those who initially moved on with the new building project decided that when the issues piled up they all left….leaving before the projects were completed and promises kept. Hats off to Brenda Boeke and Brooke Gessler for their efforts to clean-up the mess.

The hope by many Celina residents is that the Fieldhouse will continued to be used to play numerous varsity contests in the future…every kid who grows up a Bulldog wants to play on the floor named after Dean White. WBL opponents will celebrate playing in a new gym, because they know the Fieldhouse gives the Green & White a huge home court advantage. Abandoning the Fieldhouse would be a sad day in Bulldog history.

History…

EDITORIAL: Celina Schools Athletic Building Project Disappointments

The Auditorium

A promise not being kept after Celina voters to support the building project was a ‘real’ auditorium to focus on performing arts at the schools to highlight school plays, band concerts, choir concerts and hosting community events. Celina has been without a viable auditorium since the early days of the Celina School system. Using a the small stage at the current administration building from the early 1900’s and the high school gym….that wasn’t even able to use the stage for events in the recent yera.

This needs of all the student need to be addressed…or the system will continue to lose students to open enrollment to area schools with quality facilities.