Invest in our Schools to Move RUSD Forward: Commentary

The following commentary was written by Eric Gallien, Superintendent of the Racine Unified School District.

Dr. Eric Gallien, Superintendent

Racine Unified School District educates 18,000 children in our public schools every day.

In most cases, learning takes place in very old facilities. Facilities that were not built to meet the needs of today’s students.

The average age of our schools is 79 years.

In 1857, when Janes Elementary was built, students went home for lunch. There was no need for a school cafeteria then, but today, we feed many students two and sometimes three meals a day.

Gyms are now multi-purposed serving as lunchrooms, gym space and auditoriums for school assemblies, severely limiting time for lunch and physical activity.

Most of our schools, with the exception of our newest ones, were built before the Internet. Before SMART Boards, cell phones or iPads.

And incorporating the latest technology into very old buildings is a monumental task.

While we’ve done our best to integrate classroom technology, it’s costly and less effective than in more modern facilities.

Old building materials make installation extremely challenging and antiquated mechanicals regularly disrupt wireless access in classrooms.

Our students need and deserve better learning environments that support excellent instruction and lead to improved student achievement. They need flexible learning environments that allow them to collaborate with their peers and participate in hands-on, project-based learning. And they need them now because their success today ensures Racine a highly-skilled workforce tomorrow. Our outdated facilities lack this kind of
space and flexibility.

Thanks to our partnerships with many area businesses and post-secondary institutions through the Academies of Racine, we’re seeing firsthand how these opportunities drive
student success.

We’re already seeing early wins with our high school students in the Academies including a six percent increase in GPA for our freshmen, a reduction in behavioral issues and 1,052 students who earned a total of 2,461 college credits last year.

We must continue this momentum and expand these positive results to ensure every student graduates career or college ready. To do that, we need technology, resources and high-quality learning environments in all of our schools for all of our students.

A plan to move the District forward

This is a defining moment for RUSD. One where we can build on the momentum of the last several years and expand successful programs like the Academies of Racine. Or one where we continue doing the best with what we’ve got.

Over the past year, RUSD has collaborated with hundreds of community members, staff and families and worked with facilities experts and demographic analysts. We spent
months assessing our existing school facilities and studying current and future demographic trends in Racine.

Together, we developed a smart, data-based long-range facilities plan that addresses the District’s needs now and into the future.

This plan allows us, over the next several years, to consolidate schools in declining enrollment areas of the District to be more efficient with your tax dollars and expand schools in areas of the community that are growing.

The plan will allow us to create smaller middle schools including a new Schulte K-8 in Sturtevant and a new middle school in the city of Racine.

It ensures we can invest in student learning with a new K-8 International Baccalaureate campus at Starbuck and a brand new STEAM elementary school. We will also add STEAM spaces and curriculum across the District to improve math and science achievement.

The plan is comprehensive and addresses facilities, maintenance, technology and safety and security needs at each one of our schools. I encourage you to review it on our website.

The Choice is Yours

On April 7, RUSD will ask the community to consider a referendum to fund this plan that will positively impact every school and every student.

We’re asking you, our community, to simply continue the investment you’re currently making in our schools while we will continue to keep the school tax rate related to the referendum flat.

This plan is transformational for student learning. It is based on data, thorough research and community input. And it protects our taxpayers into the future. It will move our schools and our community forward.