Patch Features RUSD Candidates

Caledonia Patch begins its Racine Unified School District Board of Education election coverage this week with profiles of the five candidates competing for three positions.

Each of the candidates were interviewed individually and asked to comment on identical questions. The candidates’ responses will appear over the next few days.

Three incumbents and two challengers are seeking three-year terms on the board. Members are elected at-large to the nine-member School Board, which sets policy for RUSD—the state’s fourth largest school district.

Roger Pfost, 79, of 3114 Caledonia St., wants a seat on the Racine Unified School District Board of Education because he believes the district needs to be more accountable to the public. Pfost is making his second run for School Board; he was an unsuccessful candidate in 2006.

A Racine native, he is a graduate of Horlick High School and holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Marquette University and a master’s degree in business administration from Santa Clara University. Now retired, Pfost has worked as a real estate agent, a business operations manager, an operational systems consultant and an insurance claims manager.

Pfost has two sons, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He is a member of the Racine Taxpayers Association.

The Racine Unified School District has long struggled with an achievement gap between its white students and its students of color.  What do you believe can be done to improve the learning of all RUSD students?

The district has got to concentrate on the three Rs – reading, writing and arithmetic. In the new Excel program (offered at community centers), you’ve got certified instructors for things like tap dancing, cooking and video production. You need to stick with the basics.

I’m not an educator, but I believe that any proposals from the district should have benchmarks attached so they (administrators) can measure student achievement.

RUSD currently has a building maintenance backlog in excess of $80 million.  What should be done to address this?

My past experience as an operations consultant included overseeing maintenance operations. Projects must be prioritized. You have to have a plan of what is to done. Then, report back on what is accomplished or why it’s not being accomplished.

Now it’s true that with some projects, you don’t know how complex they can be until you get into it. But, an experienced maintenance supervisor will look at a situation and report back.

Maintenance is one of the least understood areas, but it’s one of the most profitable to control. You get more bang for your buck than anything else.

In your opinion, does the general public have a favorable or unfavorable impression of Racine’s public schools?  Why?

I can only go by own experience with my granddaughter in which there are good schools and bad schools.

From what I’ve seen, the principals should be given more control as to how their schools are run. One of my objectives, when I’m elected, is to find out exactly how the district’s reporting structure works.

Come back next week to find out the candidates' positions on the referendum.