Two top Racine Unified School District administrators offered their case for $128.5 million in school spending and then fielded questions ranging from past referenda spending to student achievement.
Superintendent Jim Shaw, and David Hazen, RUSD chief financial officer, led the informational meeting on the April 5 school referendum Wednesday evening at the Siena Center, 5635 Erie St. The meeting, sponsored by AAUW-Racine, Phi Delta Kappa and the Siena Center, was attended by about 40 people, including retired educators.
The focus of the referendum, which includes an $83.5 million bond issue to construct five new elementary schools and remodel five other buildings, is to create smaller student-to-teacher ratios in pre-kindergarten through first grade classrooms, said Shaw.
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“It’s really focused on children’s start in school,” said Shaw, adding that he believes in research that indicates elementary school students develop better reading and math skills at an early age if they have more direct contact with teachers. To accomplish this focus, the bond issue would add more classroom space and a second referendum question would pay for 60 to 70 additional teachers and other staff members.
Shaw said the expected educational impact of the referendum is to improve student learning—specifically to reach a goal of having 90 percent of the district’s third grade students reading at a grade level or better by 2016.
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Hazen said that four of the buildings slated for replacement have serious maintenance issues because of age and/or design (Wind Point, Knapp, Roosevelt and Bull Fine Arts). The fifth new school, Olympia Brown, would allow the current building to be remodeled to expand the REAL School, which is also housed there.
“Even though this is a big project, it’s only a piece of it,” he said. The upcoming referendum deals only with elementary schools. A second phase would address middle and high schools and a third phase would involve replacing some of the district’s oldest buildings.
Topics of audience questions included:
What is the total price tag of the April 5 referendum and the next two phases?
Hazen said the three referendum questions on the ballot are: an $83.5 million, 20-year-bond issue; additional operations spending that runs from 2011-12 through 2017-18 totals $35 million; renewing a 10-year addition of $1 million to the district’s general fund balance totals $10 million.
The second phase “are rougher numbers” Hazen said. That referendum may include rebuilding Walden III at $35 million, remodeling the current Olympia Brown building at $17 million and replacing the Red Apple Elementary building at $11 million. The third phase projects haven’t been specifically identified.
How have previous referenda proceeds been spent?
The most recent successful RUSD referenda have dealt with new construction, maintenance and the general balance, said Hazen. The projects included building what is now Julian Thomas Elementary School and spending $3.3 million annually over five years on building maintenance.
“We may not have done all of the (maintenance) projects in the order we’d like, but every dime has been spent on long-term maintenance,” he said.
Why move RUSD’s Administrative Service Center to new quarters?
Hazen said the project, which carries a $10 million price tag, is expected to pay for itself by reducing operating costs for the district’s central offices by $450,000 annually over the next 20 years.
“It was a way to save money,” added Shaw. “This was a non-classroom function that would reduce operating expenses…and making central office more focused on supporting our schools.”
What will district officials do if the upcoming referendum fails?
Shaw said the referendum outcome won’t change the district’s commitment to the North Star Vision—a shared goal of having all RUSD students graduate career and/or college ready.
“We’re going after the North Star, regardless of what happens with the referendum,” he said adding that administrators would still have to address ongoing maintenance issues.
Hazen pointed out that the bond issue and the operations questions are linked. “If it doesn’t pass, we may try again. We have the messages,” he said.
