Should Caledonia have its own School District?

The same half-dozen volunteers who collected thousands of signatures in support of creating a Caledonia School District a few years ago are still working toward that goal.

But that core group will be looking for help this year, probably starting in July, to restart the process of pulling away from the Racine Unified School District.

“A lot of people are thinking this is dead. This issue is not dead. It’s just regrouping and reorganizing,” said Brian Dey, president of the Caledonia School District Steering Committee, which formed after talk of school secession began around 2008.

The issue started with Kathy Burton, who went door-to-door with friends to gather about 500 signatures after “camping out” at school board meetings.

“We were dissatisfied with the way the district is going,” said Burton, whose experience with the petition drive led her to run for village board. She was elected trustee in 2009.

The signature gathering ramped up that same year.

“On the first petition day we got 1,400 signatures in a snowstorm,” Dey said.

But the undertaking crumbled after they collected only 3,700 signatures; more than 8,000 were needed.  Dey described the loss of momentum as too few people trying to accomplish too big a task.

The effort was revitalized late last year when the district introduced three referendum questions, including one asking taxpayers to consider spending $83.5 million to replace five elementary school buildings, including Wind Point and Olympia Brown in Caledonia, and remodel five other elementary schools, including North Park in Caledonia.

Both were goals Caledonia School District supporters had discussed.

But, Dey said, “Caledonia accounts for 25 percent of local district revenue. The other 75 percent won’t see a return on that money.”

That’s partly why the Caledonia Unified School District initiative is re-igniting.

Dey said he and other supporters think it is time that Caledonia set out on its own, leaving the Racine Unified District with smaller class sizes, more manageable staffing levels and the ability to focus its remaining dollars on students in Racine while giving Caledonia more say over its educational future – all principles Burton embraced when she decided to start knocking on doors.

“It’s not just about Caledonia,” she said. “It’s about everybody in Racine Unified. The district is too big.”

This time around, Burton said she’s not sure how much of a role she will take in the push for an independent school system.

“If you’re asking me if I support it, I do,” she said. But, Burton added, her role as trustee could keep her somewhat sidelined.

“This is completely a citizen-driven activity,” she said. “The board has no official role in it at all. It’s going to be up to the people.”

And the people, specifically the number of them in Caledonia, should be a factor as residents consider how they feel about a solo district, Dey said.

“Caledonia was a community of about 9,000 people when we joined the district 40 years ago,” he said. “Now, we’re closer to Oak Creek, with about 30,000. And they have a successful school district.”

Dey thinks Caledonia could do the same. The first step will be gathering enough signatures to present to the Racine Unified School Board.

As of last year, the last time the petition drive was on the board’s radar, no petition had been submitted, said David Hazen, the district’s chief financial officer.

Dey said signatures could be submitted by July 2012, with a concerted effort for gathering those signatures expected to kickoff in July of this year.

Just how many signatures will be needed was unclear, although the standard is 20 percent of area voters from the most recent election. Dey did not have those figures yet.

He also did not plan to carry over any signatures collected in the last petition drive.

“We’re treating this like we’re starting over with a brand new effort,” Dey said. “Anything we’ve done before is wonderful, and we’re going to get those signatures back. But we’re not assuming that if people supported this before, they still support it. It’s a whole new effort.”

Even with the necessary number of signatures, Dey said Racine officials could still tank the effort. That’s because a majority of the Racine school board must approve the plan in order for it to advance smoothly.

“We are concerned about that,” Dey said.  But, he added, a state board also must check off on the initiative, which would ultimately have to go to a community referendum.

That’s a long way off; the entire process would take another two years. But organizers have already looked ahead at how they might organize a new district.

If the plan is approved, the new district would get all of the school buildings in Caledonia plus 28 acres of empty land near 5 ½ Mile and Novak roads. Gifford Elementary School could be reorganized as a middle school, and organizers hope the new tax dollars designated for the district would be enough to pay for a new high school, Dey said.

The new district would serve an estimated 4,800 students.

For more information: www.caledoniaschooldist.org/index