Racine Superintendent Contract OK'd, But Two Board Members Vote 'No'

In a 7 to 2 vote, the Racine Unified School District Board of Education approved a , their choice for a new school superintendent.

Haws replaces current superintendent Ann Laing, who stepped in when James Shaw left the district. Haws is currently with the District of Columbia Public Schools in Washington, D.C. as an instructional superintendent. She issued the following statement:

“It is a tremendous honor and privilege to be officially appointed as superintendent of the Racine Unified School District. I’m eager to join the smart and dedicated teachers, leaders and support staff in the important and challenging work of ensuring that Racine students achieve the goals of the North Star Vision,” according to the press release.

Haws, who will start her new job on July 1, plans to spend the first 90 days listening and learning about the district. Her focus, however, will be on the following priorities:

1. That every RUSD school offers high-quality learning experiences for our children;
2. That every classroom has a great teacher and every school has a first-rate instructional leader; and
3. That every child reaches the grade-level milestone goals of our North Star Vision.

School board president Dennis Wiser told the board that it took two months to negotiate Haws’ contract because they needed to adjust “what she was looking for to our school district’s policies.”

Wiser said he was impressed with Haws’ ability focus on closing achievement gaps and her sense of urgency.

Julie McKenna and Don Nielsen voted against the $200,000 contract, but said that if Haws’ contract were approved they would still support her.

McKenna told board members that she felt they should have looked at internal candidates before looking for an outside candidate. Nielsen said he would be joining McKenna in voting against Haws contract because she didn’t have experience in managing a budget with facilities and human resources.

Still, the Rev. Melvin Hargrove said he was impressed with Haws' commitment to being with the school district long-term and felt it was important that she could help develop leaders within the district.