Because Arrowhead failed to pass the referendum, the future of Arrowhead’s over 50-year-old swimming pool is in question. The pool needs facility updates and improvements. However, on April 1, 2025, the majority of the Arrowhead community voted “No” on the referendum. Mr. Mangan, AHS Athletic Director, said he was hopeful, but still disappointed when the referendum failed.
About two weeks before the referendum, the pool was drained to get it checked. “So the good news is it’s filling up right now,” Mr. Mangan said. This is good short term news because the school plans to keep it open as long as possible. For the first few weeks with the pool drained, club swimmers had to drive to Waukesha North to train. Although they got pool space for the club team, during the high school seasons when the Waukesha North Kettle Moraine teams train, the Arrowhead teams will lose a possible training location if the pool were to be permanently drained.
One of Mr. Mangan’s primary concerns is for the competitive swim teams. “We are undersized. We don’t have a great pool for hosting events, we don’t have a great pool for the number of athletes we have, and we have a terrible pool for divers,” Mr. Mangan said. The diving board was taken out over three years ago and the team currently practices at Germantown whereas the swim team practices at Arrowhead. One team, two locations.
The club team that trains at Arrowhead, Lake Country Swim Team, has over 200 swimmers, with varying levels of skills. This spans from kids just 8 years old and under, learning to swim, all the way to 18 year old’s, hoping to swim at the collegiate level. All of these swimmers and their families are negatively impacted by the substandard facilities in the pool.
The Arrowhead community voted “No” on the referendum. Although the school respects this choice, there is a very real impact on Arrowhead students.
