The Southeast Conference has officially accepted Central Lee as its eighth member, with the Hawks set to join the league for the 2028-29 school year — completing a process that began when the Central Lee School Board approved a formal request to join the conference back in June.
As Ottumwa Radio previously reported, Central Lee’s board voted in mid-June to pursue membership in the Southeast Conference after more than 30 years in the Southeast Iowa Superconference. The district cited continued enrollment growth, expanded athletic and activities offerings including girls soccer and boys and girls bowling — programs not recognized within the SEISC structure — and the desire for more consistent lower-level competition opportunities as primary reasons for the move.
Central Lee joins Oskaloosa as schools recently accepted into the Southeast Conference for the 2028-29 school year. The Hawks will be the third Lee County school in the conference, alongside Keokuk and Fort Madison, and will be the smallest member by enrollment — though the district has seen steady growth in recent years, with its student population now approaching that of Washington. Officials cited the school’s geographic proximity to existing conference members and the opportunity for more convenient middle school matchups as additional factors in the decision to extend an invitation.
With the addition of Central Lee, the 2028-29 Southeast Conference will consist of Burlington, Oskaloosa, Mount Pleasant, Keokuk, Fort Madison, Fairfield, Washington, and Central Lee.
Central Lee’s departure leaves the SEISC South Division, which currently includes Burlington Notre Dame, Danville, Holy Trinity Catholic, Mediapolis, New London, Van Buren County, and West Burlington. The move follows a pattern of schools reassessing their conference fit in recent years — Cardinal departed the SEISC South at the start of the 2022-23 school year when it joined the South Central Conference. With Central Lee’s exit, the SEISC now stands at nine members in the North Division and seven remaining in the South Division, raising questions about whether the conference will move a school from the North to rebalance the divisions.
