Racine Unified Hires New Buildings And Grounds Director

The has hired Bryan Arnold as the new director of buildings and grounds.

Arnold was the compliance and systems coordinator in the buildings and grounds department for School District U-46 in Elgin, Ill., a position that he held for 10 years. In this role, he helped manage the buildings and grounds for 64 buildings that covered 5.5 million square feet in 12 communities. He also helped manage and direct staff to ensure the successful and safe operation of School District U-46 facilities.

Prior to working in a school district, Arnold worked as an environmental health and safety consultant, working largely with school districts across the country. As a consultant, he specialized in areas such as asbestos and lead paint removal and construction. Arnold was a consultant for 16 years, the last four of which he owned his own business.

When the RUSD director of buildings and grounds opening became available following the retirement of former director Frank Jarosz, Arnold took time to get to know Racine and Racine Unified, spending time driving around the area and reading information about the District.

“I saw strong similarities between my previous District and RUSD,” said Arnold. “The buildings are very similar and the districts face some of the same challenges in terms of building structures and the budget."

Dave Hazen, RUSD chief financial officer, is confident that Arnold’s background will help him effectively deal with these challenges.

“The skills and knowledge Arnold brings from his more than 25 years working with school districts are a valuable asset as we continue to improve aging facilities with declining resources,” said Hazen.

Arnold received a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental health from Illinois State University and a Masters of Business Administration from DeVry’s Keller Graduate School of Management. His first day with RUSD was March 12, and he is excited to start making a positive impact.

“I look forward to serving our schools,” he said. “I want to work with the schools to make them a safe place for students and staff to be and a place of which they can be proud.”