Horlick principal retiring

Horlick Principal Nola Starling-Ratliff is retiring at the end of the year. She's leaving the district after heading Horlick since 1993. Here's Starling-Ratliff's bio on the website for Viterbo University, where she serves on the board:

Since 1993, Starling-Ratliff has been the principal of Horlick High School in Racine. Prior to that, she spent two years as principal of Hamilton High School in Sussex. Starling-Ratliff graduated from Viterbo College in 1974 with a degree in music education and voice minor. She went on to receive a Master of Science degree in Administrative Leadership from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1982.

Starling-Ratliff has been associated with many civic organizations including the Racine Black Caucus and the Racine Alliance of Black School Educators. She was also a member of the Racine Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Committee. In 1997, Starling-Ratliff received the Viterbo Outstanding Alumni Award for exemplary service to her community.

Teachers seem to like Unified's new reading system

I spent some time this morning researching Harcourt's StoryTown, the new $3 million elementary school reading system the Racine Unified School Board is expected to approve this week. Other teachers around the country seem to like the new system. I suspect most teachers are excited to get new materials to teach with. Here's a summary of what I found:

Teacher forum on Harcourt's StoryTown - "We got the brand spankin-new 2008 version in September. I teach 2nd and there is a lot to it!!! I was very overwhelmed at first and spend hours planning my reading for the week. It does get better with time and as the kids become more accustomed to it."

Teacher Forum: - "As a new teacher it was nice because I could always find something to support the reading."

Teacher Forum: Our district adopted Storytown this year and I am finally feeling pretty good about it. It was hard at first because they had about 3 hours of activities planned for a day and we only had about 2 hours and 15 minutes to teach reading. ... I do like the robust vocabulary - I teach a higher reading group and my kids eat it up!

Free Downloads - This teacher in Florida is offering materials they made to work with Harcourt's StoryTown for other teachers.

Dey quits RUSD superintendent search, won't voteUpdate: REA endorses; Van Atta snaps at Dey

UPDATE, 4/17, 4 p.m.: First, the Racine Education Association and the Racine Educational Assistants Association have endorsed one of Unified's three finalists: Barbara Moore Pulliam, a professor now and the former superintendent in Jonesboro, GA, a suburban Atlanta district with 52,400 students. Pete Knotek, REA president, wrote the board that Pulliam "demonstrated in her interview that she has the skills to reach out to the community, both inside the district and out, about how to move the district forward.”

Whether that endorsement is the kiss of death remains to be seen; it's likely to be so. In any case, after the public forum Monday night, Dr. Carlinda Purcell, former superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools, Montgomery, AL, was the consensus choice of those I spoke to, including at least one school board member.

Second, shortly after 7 p.m., School Board member Bill Van Atta responded via e-mail to Brian Dey's 3 p.m. statement (below). We're not sure whether Van Atta meant his response to go to everyone Dey sent his withdrawal statement to -- media and other RUSD members -- but it did. Here's Van Atta's note:

Brian,
The lack of integrity demonstrated by this note is simply breathtaking!
Regards,
Bill

Dey's objections to the current board's making the superintendent decision have been known for some while. Dey says he was willing to go along with the current board's picking the new superintendent back in December and January, "when it appeared we could get this wrapped up by April. But when we saw that the board was not meeting deadlines, that was the point that I and Carlsen should have bowed out. There's no rush, (Interim Supt. Jack) Parker is willing to stay through August.

"But now we're talking about an indecisive board trying to rush a decision."

FURTHER UPDATE, 4/18/08, 5:21 a.m.: Dey responded to Van Atta's note with this:

Bill,
While I owe you no explanation, I do owe the public that elected me.  Hence, the public notice of my withdrawal.  This Board has worried more about its image with staff, than the public it represents. It's about time someone publicly scrutinizes the actions of this Board and its ineptness.  There is a clear difference between you and I.  You owe your allegiances to the special interests that put you there, i.e. RAMAC, Johnsons.  I owe mine to the general public.
Regards,
Brian  

ORIGINAL POST: Brian Dey, a member of the Racine Unified School Board since 2005, did not run for re-election this year (choosing instead to run for the County Board, a race he lost). Nonetheless, until the new board members are sworn in on April 28, he is still a member of the board, and its superintendent search committee.

Until today. Here's the statement Dey released this afternoon:

Effective immediately, I will be officially withdrawing my name from the Search Committee for the Superintendent of the Racine Unified School District. To be clear, I did not attend past meetings, including the first interviews with the eight finalists, nor was I involved with the selection of the three finalists. I have previously discussed with Board President Tony Baumgardt that I felt the process, as it was proceeding should have the newly elected Board members involvement as they would be the ones ultimately working with the new Superintendent. I was unable to attend last night's meeting and discussed with Tony, following adjournment, the events that took place. (The Board released this statement after that meeting.)

I agreed that more needed to be done. However, comments that were made with regards to how the Board came to this decision troubled me. Certain criteria have risen to the top of qualifications, namely "collaboration." While in part I would agree, but total collaboration may not be practical in achieving the communities’ desire for raising academic achievement, and I fear a candidate that for all other reasons would make an excellent Superintendent, may be discarded without merit.

I also fear that the Board may fall back to one of the remaining two, and that is concerning as well. In part, this may be related to comments made by a few of the stakeholders, which were very influential in the hiring of Dr. Thomas Hicks.

To conclude, it is my belief that the new members (should) be a part of this process, and that the exiting Board members stay out of the way. I will continue to follow the events leading up to the hire as a private citizen and will abstain my vote should a vote arise on this matter prior to my departure.

Two other board members did not run for re-election in April. One of them, Randy Bangs, resigned last fall, and was replaced by Melvin Hargrove. Hargrove won election to a full term on April 1 and is participating in the superintendent search. The other departing member is Russ Carlsen, who is also serving on the selection panel. The two new board members who will take office April 28, but until then have no vote in the superintendent search are Pamela Handrow and Dennis Wiser. Both were given the opportunity to meet with the three finalists.

Meanwhile, the board is checking references of its preferred candidate, doing the kind of background checks and due diligence that one would have expected its search firm to have already done for its $37,000 in fees and expenses. Or: as the Journal Times graphically described the process...

Unified: No decision on superintendent

Here's an update from Unified on where things stand with the superintendent candidates:

The Board of Education met this evening in closed session for more than three hours to review the feedback regarding the Superintendent Finalists that was received from the meetings with staff, students, union leaders, parents, and the community as well as the Monday evening forum at the Golden Rondelle. The Board also reviewed other information that had been received concerning the candidates, and during the meeting additional questions were raised that the Board feel must be answered to be able to decide how to proceed. The Board will release information regarding the next steps in the Superintendent search process as soon as a decision has been made.

Let's summarize: The Board met in closed session. It still has questions. No decision was made. It will tell us when they make a decision.

Grading Racine's three superintendent finalists

Sue Kutz and Bill Van Atta sort questions for the finalists

Grading Racine Unified's three superintendent finalists began Monday, after a busy day of meetings with school stakeholders: students, teachers, principals, administrators and business leaders among them. The day concluded with a public forum at the Golden Rondelle, at which about 200 citizens got to hear brief statements from the candidates and their answers to submitted questions.

Everyone was well-behaved (although Bill Krummel, picketing outside, carried a sign charging the "pillars" of Unified with complicity to a murder), and all the candidates received polite applause, but when it was over there was a clear consensus.

Here's how I'd grade the three, based mostly on their appearance Monday night:

Dr. Craig Bangtson: F (because that's the lowest grade I'm allowed to give)
Dr. Barbara Moore Pulliam: B
Dr. Carlinda Purcell: A

One school board member put them in the same order after the presentation, with Purcell clearly the front-runner. When I teased a Unified principal that Bangtson would be her new boss, she said, "Don't even joke about it."

The school board will meet individually with each of the candidates Tuesday morning for formal interviews and answers to the tough questions that have arisen about their departures from previous superintendency's, and then take a few days to review community feedback (and hopefully verify the information submitted by the candidates, something not done prior to their visit, as proven by the Bangtson resume fiasco. "I'm without words on that one," said Don Nielsen.) Tony Baumgardt, board president, said he hoped the board could make a decision by Thursday or Friday.

About Dr. Craig Bangtson, the less said, the better. His presentation was flat, his jokes were lame ("I don't want to shock you, but we don't educate anyone at the central office.") and his explanation of previously revealed resume enhancements didn't touch on the more serious infraction (allegedly writing his own reference letters for Antigo, WI). He called the other , which listed a one-year tenure as three, "a typo." "I've only known one perfect person," he said at one point, "and that person was crucified." One businessman who had lunched with Bangtson, told me his rambling presentation Monday night was far better than earlier in the day. And I won't even mention the observation that his argyle socks worn at lunch were inside-out...

Finally, Bangtson did himself in by stating, "I don't need the money. I'm independently well off." He's 58, and said he would expect to stay until he receives Social Security, four to six years, "shorter if I don't get results."

At odds with the other candidates was Bangtson's observation that "there needs to be more of a partnership between the business community and the schools." Others seemed to think that already exists.

Dr. Barbara Moore Pulliam, 60, made a better impression, and trotted out her Midwest roots -- having worked in Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota. She said she learned to ski in Wisconsin and was eager to come here because Racine "is right on the lake and I'm a fisherperson, eager to go out for crappie." Unfortunately, she said crappie, only catching herself and re-pronouncing it croppie when many in the audience laughed. That, moderator Bryan Albrecht, president of Gateway Technical College, noted, was a "teachable moment."

In response to a question about gifted students, Pulliam described opening a K-5 school for the gifted and also noted that schools "are teaching children today who ten years from now we don't know what they'll be doing. We need to teach them how to learn. They have to be smart enough to learn on their own." She also took a shot at No Child Left Behind when she said, "We are really looking for a change in leadership in Washington."

She dealt directly with a question about her leaving the superintendent's job in Clayton County, GA, pointing out that she took a district that was on probation and got its accreditation back, only to feel that new members on the school board "had a different agenda than student achievement." Since leaving, she's been teaching, and "it's been most fulfilling." There have been reports the current board would like her to come back.

Asked about raising students' test scores, she said trained teachers and proper support were crucial. Also, "We've got to make sure they are taught what they need before the test -- curriculum alignment."

As for solving the dropout problem, she said, "We know by the time they are in middle school" the set of behaviors -- behind in reading, poor performance generally, attendance issues -- that lead to dropouts. "It takes almost missionary work of reaching out."

But the best impression of the night was made by Dr. Carlinda Purcell, 58, with her energetic presentation, her knowledge of Racine school issues and her statements that "there are no better assets than the children I met today. We have a responsibility to every single student... I was really impressed by the students."

Asked about improving parent involvement, she noted, "There may be models that work somewhere else, and one of the things you have to do is fit the models to Racine." Her masters' thesis was on the effectiveness of parental involvement.

Asked how she would deal with Racine's high dropout rate, she described a "drop-in day" she created at a previous district, to bring back students who had dropped out. "We asked the kids if there was anything we could do to bring them back... sometimes it was just a change of teachers."

How long would she expect to stay here if given the job of superintendent? "I would want to stay a long time. It takes at least three years to accomplish anything... then longer to reap the benefits."

Like Pulliam, she looks forward to changes in No Child Left Behind. "It is my hope that something will be done in the next administration," she said, to ease NCLB's "stringent" provisions. Still, she noted, "I'm not a gung-ho testing person, but it is the yardstick we are measured by."

As for dropouts, she said: "I think the student who has decided to drop out has decided in the third grade. I would not wait until high school" to do intervention programs."

She also won the audience over when she said, in answer to a question about budget shortfalls, "I'm not a sports person, but a high school without a football team, a basketball team, a band is pretty sad. It's a question of pride. Tough choices have to be made."

Journal Times reporter Paul Sloth followed the candidates around all day. Here's his report.

Least surprising, funniest story of the day: Search firm happy with finalists

Another RUSD finalist got $279,000 to go away(plus, the district bought her house for $327,000)

Let's put this in perspective:

When Tom Hicks, Racine Unified School District superintendent, was eased out last fall, he took with him about $200,000 in salary and benefits just for going away. The district paid the final year of his contract without Hicks having to work for it.

That's chicken feed compared to the payout received in 2006 by one of RUSD's three superintendent finalists when she was forced to resign. She got $279,000 -- a year's salary of more than $155,000, another $56,000 for benefits earned but not taken, and an extra $68,000. Plus, the board agreed to buy her $327,000 home.

Dr. Carlinda Purcell was superintendent of the Montgomery County Public Schools in Montgomery, AL, from 2004 to 2006, according to her resume. A story on the website of Montgomery TV station WSFA -- which doesn't make clear why Purcell and the board parted ways -- indicated only that the resignation "was controversial and came about three weeks after several board members sent a letter to Purcell asking her to resign." The board voted 5-2 to negotiate termination of her four-year contract. The newsletter American Renaissance says, "At least 200 members of the black community met Monday night at a rally filled with racial overtones" in her support.

Unlike the case of finalist Dr. Craig Bangtson's resume issues, RUSD was aware of all this. Sue Kutz, chairman of RUSD's search committee, said when contacted this afternoon, "she had issues with the school board. The school board was put on probation because of this ... it was a case of a badly-behaved school board."

A story in the Montgomery Advertiser quoted board member Beverly Ross, one of two who wanted Purcell to stay, saying "I think she (Purcell) is the best superintendent this school system has ever had. I do not want her to leave. She is what's best for the children in this community." Dr. Purcell was Montgomery's first female, and first African-American superintendent.

PROACT Inc.'s president, Dr. Nancy Noeske, who headed up RUSD's search, was also aware: she is quoted in a Jan. 22, 2007, Toledo Blade story about a search she headed there -- in which four of the seven applicants to be interviewed for the superintendent's job came to the district with what the story called " baggage" -- being forced out of previous jobs.

Two of those candidates are now on Racine's short-list: Dr. Bangtson and Dr. Purcell.

Dr. Noeske was quoted about another of Dr. Purcell's departures -- she left her job as superintendent in Warren County, NC, a year before her contract expired. Dr. Purcell said she left, according to the story, to spend time with her ailing mother, who had a stroke. "The wonderful time I had in Warren county...It was a success story," she said. But the story then went on to quote Dr. Noeske, saying "there was some tension between Ms. Purcell and the school board."

All three finalists were bought out of last contracts. JT's story HERE.

Our earlier story on RUSD's finalists HERE.

Two resume incidents mar one candidate's record

One of the three finalists for superintendent named this morning by the Racine Unified School Board had problems in his past that the school board search committee was not aware of.

Dr. Craig Bangtson, former superintendent of the Bartow County Schools in Cartersville, GA, allegedly lied twice on resumes, once for a job he didn't get and once for a superintendent's job in Wisconsin that he held for three years, according to separate news stories relating to previous times he sought a superintendent's position.

-- On Jan. 24, 2004, the Daily Comet of Thibodaux, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, reported that Bangtson "...was selected as a finalist though his application was incomplete. He failed to include a copy of his undergraduate transcript and proof he was a certified superintendent.

"Those application holes later revealed that Bangtson was asked to leave a top post at a Wisconsin school system in 1989 after an investigation showed he wrote his own letters of recommendation."

Bangtson's resume, provided by RUSD, shows his only Wisconsin employment as that of superintendent of the Unified School District in Antigo, from August 1986 to August 1989. The next job listed in chronological order was as superintendent of the Mt. Iron-Buhl Public Schools, in Mt. Iron, MN, from August 1989 to February 1992.

-- On March 8, 2007, a story in Hernando Today, an edition of the St. Petersburg (FL) Times, reported that Bangtson withdrew his application for superintendent, after he was named as a finalist by the Hernando County school board, when confronted with evidence he'd misrepresented facts on his resume.

His resume stated that he'd worked three years as superintendent of the Bartow County Schools in Georgia, from July of 2002 through June 2005. "But residents and the local newspaper in Georgia told a different story: that Bangtson was hired there in June of 2003, following a yearlong "retirement" between jobs, and lost his job 18 months later following allegations of abusive behavior toward subordinates" A March 19 story said, "Bartow County School District superintendent Abbe Boring was cautioned by the school district's attorney to not reveal too much about why Bangtson left." The story quoted Wayne Blanton, executive director of the Florida School Boards Association, saying that Bangtson left because he earned the reputation, "It was his way or the highway."

Bangtson's resume for Unified's job does not make the same mistake as to his tenure in Cartersville, GA, at the helm of the Bartow district: his resume here lists his time there as July 1, 2003 -- to July 1, 2004.

Asked whether Unified was aware of these controversies, Sue Kutz, chair of Unified's search committee, said, "No, we did not."

Asked whether the board should have been told about them by Dr. Nancy Noeske, who headed the search performed by PROACT Search Inc., of Milwaukee, she said: "Probably." Noeske was "leading the search, and part of the due diligence was to make sure the academic credentials are what they say." PROACT was paid $24,000 for its services, plus expenses.

But she added, "Before we do a bunch of conjecture, let's talk to the candidates and ask them."

Blangtson could not be reached this afternoon. He was booked on a flight to Chicago and is due in Racine tonight before the two days of interviews scheduled by the board Monday and Tuesday.

Our earlier story HERE.

Another finalist got $279,000 to go away. Story HERE.

All three finalists were bought out of their last contract. JT's story HERE.

RUSD names three superintendent finalists

RUSD board announcing its finalist choices, at 8 a.m. Sunday

Three finalists for the job of superintendent of schools at Racine Unified were announced Sunday morning.

All three have been urban school superintendents, although none is holding that job at present. There are two African-American women among the three finalists, and one white male.

UPDATE: Two resume incidents mar one's record.

Another finalist got $279,000 to go away.

All three finalists bought out of last contract.

The three are:

Dr. Craig Bangtson, former superintendent of Bartow County Schools in Cartersville, GA, and former superintendent of Grayson County Schools in Leitchfield, KY;

Dr. Barbara Moore Pulliam, assistant professor, College of Education, University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA, and former superintendent of Clayton County Public Schools, Jonesboro, GA;

Dr. Carlinda Purcell, former superintendent, Montgomery County Public Schools, Montgomery, AL, and Warrenton, NC.

All three, according to the nine-member RUSD board search committee, have had success in improving academic achievement, the district's number one goal. Russ Carlsen said the district's top three goals are "academic achievement, academic achievement, academic achievement." (Presumably in that order.)

The three finalists -- winnowed down from eight candidates interviewed last weekend (by the entire search committee, with the exception of Brian Dey) from the original pool of 24 -- will meet with teachers, administrators and community leaders Monday, and the public will have an opportunity to meet them Monday night, at a forum and reception at the Golden Rondelle, 1525 Howe St., beginning at 6 p.m. with a 45-minute reception. Feedback from these constituent groups will be collected and given to the school board before it interviews each of the candidates on Tuesday.

Here are some details from the candidates' resumes (presented in alphabetical order):

Dr. Craig Bangtson: 57 years old, married for 33 years, two children. (The only candidate who listed this information on resume.) "Retired" two years ago to care for his mother, who died of cancer last fall. Has 26 years of superintendent experience, in districts ranging from 450 students to 16,000. Managed budgets up to $175 million. Bartow, his most recent district, has more than 15,000 students, 2,200 employees and a budget of $130 million. Ed.D in Educational Administration from Texas A&M in 1985. First "honor" listed on resume: "Educational Leadership Award given by U.S. Sec. of Education Richard Riley in Washington, D.C., for leadership in student achievement, only one superintendent given this honor every four years; January 1995."

Quoted: "He negotiated labor agreements for over 21 years and reports never having had a work stoppage. He feels that his success in dealing with staff is a result of creating an atmosphere of professionalism. Noting that success can become contagious (he) said the quest for excellence is an on-going pursuit..."

Dr. Barbara Moore Pulliam: Currently teaches graduate courses. From 2004 to 2007 was superintendent in Jonesboro, GA, a suburban Atlanta district with 52,400 students that passed a $269 million referendum for building new schools and renovating older ones. Ten years as a superintendent, including seven at the st. Louis Park, MN, district with 4,400 students. PhD from Vanderbilt University in 1988. First honor on resume: "Superintendent of the Year, Georgia PTA, 2007."

Quoted: "I believe that one of my greatest strengths is my ability to listen and to hear what people are saying. it takes patience and sometimes a lot of time to do this, but it also is one of the best ways I know to make certain that the Superintendent is hearing what is being said... My greatest strength is my ability to bring key stakeholders to the table..."

Dr. Carlinda Purcell: Presently a consultant. Superintendent from 2004 to 2006 in Montgomery, AL, a district with 33,000 students, 58 schools and 4,300 employees; budget of $246 million. Superintendent in Warrentown, NC, from 1995 to 2002, a district with 3,300 students, 500 employees and a $22 million budget. EdD in Administration and Supervision/Special Education, from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 1983. First honor listed: "Education Technology Think Tank/Technology to Empower community Champion Leadership Award/Congressional Black Caucus Education Brain Trust by Congressman Major Owens for recognizing the critical needs to provide 21st century learning environment."

Quoted: "When she began her tenure (in Warrenton), the level of African-American students achieving Adequate Yearly Progress was only in the 40th percentile. Her leadership helped this district register one school at the 80th percentile ... prior to her departure. During her last year, every school except the high school achieved Adequate Yearly Progress rating, meaning 80% of all students in those schools were at grade level..."

The three candidates are competing for a two-year contract (the longest the state allows a district to make) at a salary potentially starting at $144,000 a year, plus benefits.

Racine Unified referendum passes

Racine Unified voters passed the district's 5-year, $16.5 million referendum. The final vote was 11,434 to 9,638, a decent margin for the district's first request from voters since Superintendent Tom Hicks left.

The proposal's best selling point may have been this list of how the money will be spent. With the public skeptical of how much teachers and administrators are paid, the list clearly showed the money would go to maintenance projects.

This type of clear planning may be Unified's best chance of getting future referendums passed. Dave Hazen, Unified's finance director, said Monday that the district is already working on long-term plans to assess Unified's needs and to provide that information to the public.

It's also interesting to note that around the state, it appears maintenance and operating revenue referendums are passing. Germantown rejected a $16.5 million proposal to build a new elementary school, but otherwise, voters are approving money to help districts cover revenue shortfalls and address maintenance issues.

We'll have a clearer sense of this in the morning, but right now, the only school referendum I saw go down was the Germantown vote.

Hargrove, Handrow, Wiser elected to School Board

Unified's new School Board members. Photo/Pete Selkowe

UPDATE 2: It's worth noting that the three new faces on the School Board were endorsed by RAMAC. The biz group also endorsed the referendum, which passed. Think they have some say in this town?

UPDATE: No numbers yet, but Melvin Hargrove, Pamala Handrow and Dennis Wiser have been elected to the School Board. Karen Norton finished fourth, followed by John Lieber and Carly-Ann Ravnikar.

ORIGINAL POST: There's a close race brewing for the School Board. Here are the results with 55 percent reporting:

Hargrove 5,534
Handrow 4,973
Wiser 4,512
Norton 4,119
(the other two are too far behind)

Norton closed the gap on Wiser from the last update, but Wiser is about the same number of votes behind Handrow. This one could go down to the wire.

Strapped: Unified not alone in broken system

Racine Unified is hoping to pass a $16.5 million referendum Tuesday that would add $3.3 million to the district's maintenance budget over the next five years. (Here's a list of how the money would be spent.)

Working on a freelance story for another publication, I researched the other 62 school referendums on the ballot in Wisconsin Tuesday. That's right, there are 62 of them.

Of the 48 school districts holding referendums (some have more than one question), 33 are seeking money for maintenance funds or operating expenses. That's nearly 8 percent of all districts in the state.

Talking with several superintendents today, they all said the state's revenue caps have stripped away everything they can cut. I don't know if that's true or not. One superintendent said they'll cut consumer education and agriculture programs (it was a rural district), and extracurriculars if the vote fails. Another they hadn't even contemplated a no vote, because they didn't want to look like they were blackmailing voters.

What's interesting about these districts is tomorrow is their first referendums in at least 20 years (probably longer, but no one could say for sure). These are small districts in conservative areas that cut their budgets and held spending tight as long as they could. They drew down their fund balances, deferred maintenance, left positions dark and generally cut every corner they could find. Now, with no where else to go, they're asking voters for help.

By comparison, Unified has gone to voters a few more times. By the J-S's count, Unified asked voters to exceed revenue caps 16 times since 1993. Voters have approved nine of the referendums for a total of $59 million, according to the Milwaukee paper.

Tomorrow will be No. 17. Much has been made about Unified's poor leadership in recent years. I agree with this - to a degree. Hicks and company clearly couldn't make things work here. His plans may have been brilliant, but he couldn't get teachers to buy into them, couldn't get students to respond to them, and couldn't get the community to rally around them. So it goes for a school administrator.

Hicks' decision (and the School Board's) to outsource Unified's finances wasn't a great idea. But in reality, it didn't affect the bottom line. I know, I know ... they paid the incentive fees and had to buy out the contracts. But Alioto and PBCG did save Unified money. So, it's basically a push and now we can get back to bringing things in house and leaving consultants in the past (hopefully).

No, in reality there are underlying pressures that will make any superintendent look bad. The state revenue formula boosts the revenue cap 2.5 percent a year, while expenses are increasing at 3 percent or more. Cut a half-percent or more out of your budget every year since 1993, and things are going to get interesting, to say the least. Declining enrollment compounds the problem (it's the reason Kenosha is building new schools while Racine hopes to fix the steps on 100-year-old buildings) because school districts are paid per student. Fewer students, less cash.

The alternative to a systemic problem is that Unified has had an incredible string of poor administrators and School Board members dating back 15 years. The same goes for the 33 School Districts going to referendum today, plus the dozens of others who will go next year or had gone in the years past.

Nope, the reality is public schools are borrowing the Annual Meeting concept from town governments. In that system, voters from a town can show up at a meeting once a year and pass anything they want. They can double the budget or cut it in half - majority rules. Those meetings have left more than a few elected officials unhinged, but so goes democracy (remember Churchill's quote: "Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others that have been tried.").

Good or bad management, rich or poor school district, the Wisconsin system is going to force schools to place questions on the ballot every year going forward. Some will pass, some will fail (Unified has a 56% passing rate - not bad for baseball, but hardly a passing grade) and everyone will have an opinion.

That's all OK, but realize the impossible position school officials and voters are in. The numbers will not work out. There is no fix. We're all frustrated. And yet, every day children are educated. In a few months, thousands of young adults will graduate. Many will go to college, earn degrees, study some more and get their master's and doctorates. Others will join the Armed Services and serve our country, or get jobs, work hard and raise families.

Racine Unified is a good school district. I know, it sounds absurd. We're told over and over that we live in the worst city in the state with the worst schools and the worst problems. But it's not the truth. Why do we do this to ourselves? To others? Why the cynicism?

I think it's the frustration. The system is broke, we all want it fixed, and we don't have the first idea on what to do. Some people yell and criticize, others detach and ignore. Then, in the middle, you find people who do what they can. These are the people who bring me hope. They're the ones who really care. They're the ones who make a difference.

Starbuck Middle School teacher chased, grabbed student, police report says

Update: We have made several attempts in recent days to contact Maack. She has not returned our phone calls. Racine Unified has also declined comment on Maack or the incident. The district said the matter is under investigation. They also released that Maack started teaching in Unified in February 2005.

Original Story: A teacher at Starbuck Middle School is under investigation for chasing a student around a classroom and wrestling with her, according to a Racine Police report.

Teacher Amy Maack allegedly got into an altercation with a student on March 11 at the school, which is located at 1516 Ohio St.

Police were called in to investigate the incident, including possible assault charges against the student. Instead, their report concluded that no assault took place and that Maack mishandled the incident, said the police report, which was written by Officer T.A. Johnson. Officer Vic Cera also responded to the incident.

"After I talked to Officer Cera, it was both of our opinions there was no criminal assault and that we found it questionable as to why the child was put in the hall, then chased, and grabbed by the teacher," Johnson wrote in the report. "We agreed that there might have been some better responses to the situation; both on the child, but more so that of the teacher in this incident."

The police report (click here for a PDF of the report) adds that Starbuck Vice Principal Jacquelin Brownell seemed "distressed" by Maack's actions.

"I then spoke to Ms. Brownell who in my opinion seemed distressed at the actions/response of the teacher in this incident," Johnson wrote.

Johnson noted in the report that he had a "conflict of interest with the child and her family." The conflict of interest was not explained.

The altercation allegedly began after Maack gave one of her students a one-hour detention for getting a blue slip from a substitute teacher. Maack then ordered the girl to stand outside the classroom in the hallway. When the girl came back in to get her books, Maack allegedly chased her around the room, grabbed the girl's arm and ended up wrestling with her on the classroom floor, the report said.

Maack and the student ended up in the principal's office. Police were called in to investigate a possible assault charge against the student. During the police investigation, Maack said she wasn't injured during the incident. After Brownell pointed out there could be no assault without an injury, Maack told police her thumb hurt and she may have a mark on her left arm.

Two student statements about the incident said that Maack chased the girl, tried to grab her, and then grabbed the student's arm and took her out of class, the report said.

Both Johnson and Cera concluded no criminal assault took place. They agreed, along with Brownell, to handle the incident within the school. The report concludes that Maack, the student and the student's father were satisfied with handling the incident within school.

On March 12, Maack appeared at the Racine Police Department to have photos taken of her injuries. Officer K. San Felippo took photos of a bruise on Maack's left arm, her left shoulder where she felt pain, two bruise marks on her back, a red mark on her middle finger on her left hand, and red marks and scrapes on her left forearm and elbow.

San Felippo also noted in his report that Officer Voss, with the Racine Police Department, told him Maack was assaulted by a student at Starbuck.

Unified declined to release Maack's teaching status on Monday. Sandra Brand, principal at Starbuck, said personnel and student confidentiality prevented her from commenting on the incident.

Maack, 38, is the music director at Starbuck. Her husband, David Maack, serves on the Racine City Council and is Racine County's director of emergency management.

Unified's referendum tour: Not a pretty sight...

Windows at Janes School...

The yellow school bus made its way around Racine Saturday morning, ignoring the snow, carrying not a busload of noisy kids but rather 21 adults shoehorned into seats definitely not designed for adult backsides.

From school to school it went -- first to Case High School, then Starbuck Middle School, then Walden III, then Janes Elementary. At each stop, district officials escorted their charges around the buildings, pointing out this and that: doors that let cold air in, and won't lock; outdated ventilation systems; roofs that leak; windows that rattle and look ready to fall apart; a concrete stairway with a big crack in the middle; a swimming pool that barely holds water; security systems about which the less said the better.

David Hazen, Racine Unified's chief financial officer, and a former school board member, led the tour, with Frank Jarosz, Unified's project manager for maintenance doing the heavy lifting when it came to explaining just what is broken, and what it would take to fix it. It was all part of the district's effort to educate the public about what it would spend the $16.5 million it hopes taxpayers will approve on April 1, a referendum for five years' worth of (mostly long overdue) maintenance projects for the districts 33 buildings comprising 3,200,000 sq. ft. of space.

The boiler room at Case HS...

How much it costs to maintain the district's schools is amazing -- although it shouldn't be, given that some buildings date from before the Civil War (Winslow, our oldest school, was built in 1856; Gilmore, our "newest," in 1973), and Unified has shorted maintenance funds for years, to avoid having to cut staff (and because half a dozen referenda providing maintenance funds were rejected by the taxpayers). Unified supplied those taking the tour with a checklist with all the projects it hopes to do: a fire alarm system at Wind Point ($130,099), roofing at Jefferson ($60,691), sidewalks at Schulte ($30,972), replace 40-year-old cracked asphalt at Giese's playground ($206,480), new seats and lighting in Case High School's theater, $318,000) ... and so it goes. Those are just a few of the first-year's expenditures; the list goes on -- and on --through five years' worth of new windows and doors, a replaced pool, paint, electrical upgrades, heating and ventilation repairs, millions for new roofs.

Jarosz, who's been on the job at Unified for 18 years, recalled how years ago -- in the early '90s -- he budgeted for the big stuff, of course, but he also had about $750,000 a year to spend on the myriad little repairs -- items costing less than $25,000, like Walden's cracked-down-the-middle front steps for example. No more; now everything must be budgeted years ahead. If the referendum passes, then Janes -- the district's year-'round school, open in the summer -- will have its air conditioning system rebuilt at a cost of $820,758, in 2012. If not, well ...

Broken concrete steps at Walden...

Hazen pointed out that the referendum will add just $34 a year to the tax bill of a $100,000 house. In year one. In years two through four, the additional cost would drop to $10 a year; in year five to $9. "Over the life of the referendum, the cost is four cents a day," Hazen said.

So was anybody convinced? The school bus carried 21 people on Saturday morning's tour -- but only seven were "civilians" -- neither working for the district, nor on the volunteer referendum advisory committee, nor media. As the bus pulled back into Case's parking lot after two hours of poking through boiler rooms, classrooms and chilly entryways, and peering at peeling paint, cracked concrete and twisted roof shingles, I asked the civilians on the bus how many were convinced of the need, and how many were not.

Six people raised their hands in support of the referendum. Only one man said no: Frank Morrison of the Racine Taxpayers Association insists the district has enough money for maintenance (actually, the amount uncommitted is just $232,813) and, a worse offense in Morrison's canon, is trying to hire another superintendent like the one who left last August. But on that bus, after touring the district's schools, he was the lone negative voice.

"Not bad," said Hazen, ever the accountant, doing the math in his head; "85 percent support."

If only.

-- --

Unified has put much information about the referendum on its website.

For example: here is a spreadsheet with all the maintenance projects the district hopes to fund from the five-year referendum, sorted by year and school.

Here is a list of previous referendum projects, by school, showing what the district spent $21 million repairing in recent years.

Here is a school tax calculator, showing exactly how much the referendum will cost you (after you plug in your home's assessed valuation).

Here is a fact sheet with lots of information about the district and the referendum. A VIDEO is here.

$100,000 for RUSD's homeless kids in Mason's bill

Racine Unified School District would receive $100,000 from the state to help educate homeless kids, if a bill proposed by Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine, becomes law.

Mason introduced Assembly Bill 832, and today, the companion Senate Bill, SB 495, had a hearing before the Wisconsin State Education Committee. It would provide an additional $100 for each homeless student in the state public eduction system; RUSD has 1,000 homeless students out of 8,100 statewide.

"It is considerably more expensive and challenging for school districts to educate homeless students. Allocating modest additional resources to address this problem is critical in aiding our districts in meeting the state academic standards and reducing the achievement gap between the rich and the poor," Mason said.

Also testifying today was Liz Erven, the homeless student coordinator for Racine Unified School District, who shared with the committee some of the challenges that homeless students face.

Under Mason's bill, the $100 per student would be categorical state aid -- in other words, supplied totally by the state and not requiring any funds from local property taxes. In addition, it must be spent on the purpose designated, although the bill does not specify how each school district should use the funds.

"It's intended to address an improved academic performance," Mason said. "The premise behind the bill is if you come to school not knowing where you're going to sleep that night, or not having breakfast, or having to stay up all night, all that affects performance. We leave it loose enough: if the student needs tutoring, fine, the school can do that with the funds. If what they really need is something that addresses their home situation, a safer environment, the schools can do that, too."

"Being homeless comes with so many contingencies ... I can't even imagine," Mason said. "It's up to each district. It's all deferred to Liz Erven's program, which requires the schools to keep track of homeless kids (a requirement of No Child Left Behind). If what they need most is shoes, so they don't come to school with frostbite, do that; if what they need is after-school tutoring to get them through fractions, the schools can do that. It's different from situation to situation."

Get on the Bus: Unified offering tour of schools Saturday

UPDATE: For anyone wondering about cost, the tour's price tag is $253, according to the district.

ORIGINAL POST: The Racine Unified School Board is hosting a bus tour of district schools on Saturday to point out the need to pass a five-year, $16.5 million referendum on April 1.

The Maintenance Referendum Bus Tour will begin at 8:30 a.m. at Case High School, 7345 Washington Ave. After the Case High School Tours, buses will take participants to Starbuck Middle School, Walden III, and Janes Elementary. The tour will include tours of four Racine Unified Schools and discuss how the maintenance referendum will benefit the students through making much needed repairs and upgrade security in the district's schools.

Anyone wishing to participate in the bus tour is asked to RSVP to the Office of Communications at (262) 631-7173 or info@racine.k12.wi.us by 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 6. Reservations are needed to ensure enough buses for transportation.

Power out at Park, McKinley, Mitchell schools

Power went out at Park High School and McKinley Middle School this morning. The blackout started at about 9:15 a.m. and ended at about 10:05 a.m.

Students stayed in classrooms during the outage, which was caused by a blown transformer. The school day is continuing as normal.

Unified: Student threatened 'Columbine-style' attack on Walden

UPDATE, 2/29/08: WRJN is airing a phone call from a woman who says she is the mother of the student who allegedly made the threat. The woman called the station yesterday afternoon.

The caller describes her son as "a straight-A student, who made a terrible decision. It was just talk, not a threat.... He and a few of his friends were making a joke in poor taste and poor judgment and should suffer the consequences for that."

She said there were "extenuating circumstances" including the fact that her son "doesn't even know where Columbine was" or what happened there.

- - -

Unified put out a statement on reports that a student at Walden III High School threatened to carry out a "Columbine-style" attack on the school.

Here's what the district is saying:

* On Wednesday, Walden III school staff was made aware that a student had made comments about a ‘Columbine-style’ attack on the school.

* When the staff became aware, staff took it very seriously and involved the Racine Police Department immediately.

* The situation is currently under investigation by the Police Department and the Racine Unified School District.

* The threat did not affect the safety of our school or disturb instruction.

* There will be an increased police presence at the school as well as additional security procedures implemented. The district asks that students and parents cooperate with these new procedures even though it may be inconvenient.

* Disciplinary actions have been taken by the district against the student who allegedly made the threats and the district continues to investigate this matter.

RAMAC endorses Handrow, Hargrove, Wiser for Unified

RAMAC has endorsed Pamala Handrow, Melvin Hargrove, and Dennis Wiser for the Racine Unified School Board. The election will be held along with Wisconsin's presidential primary, on Tuesday, Feb. 19.

The RAMAC members who interviewed the candidates included: Eric Peterson, VP of Landmark Title and co-owner of Henry and Wanda’s; Jeff McKeown, President of Express Personnel; Scott Kelly, President of Johnson Bank-Racine; Chip Brewer, Director of Worldwide Government Affairs, SC Johnson and Son; Denise Wilcox, VP of Human Resources, Twin Disc; and Carol Barkow, Director of Community Partnerships at RAMAC.

Unified: Principal reassigned 'to ensure best leadership'

In the last few weeks, readers have been asking about the reassignment of Richard Larson from directing principal at Gilmore Middle School to assistant principal at McKinley Middle School.

Here's the brief memo interim Superintendent Jackson Parker sent out to all Unified staff on December 6:

Dr. Gary Jackson will be the directing principal for Gilmore Middle School. Dr. Richard Larson will be the assistant principal at McKinley Middle School, and Rebecca Zahn will be the assistant principal of Wadewitz Elementary School.

We followed up with district Spokesperson Stephanie Kratochvil-Hayden to ask why the changes were made. Here is her response today:

Staff in the district's academic division evaluated the leadership in each building and to ensure the best leadership was in place to serve the needs of students.

Larson, previously from Streamwood, Ill., is in his first year with the district. He was hired to replaced to Dan Thielen, who took over as the principal at Park High School.

As to what specifically led to Larson's reassignment, we don't know.

Help pick Unified's next superintendent

Racine Unified has retained PROACT Search, a firm that specializes in helping school boards find a superintendent. To identify the characteristics that the community is looking for, the school board is seeking the input of students, parents, staff and residents.

To provide your input, attend one of the following Community Forums:

Tuesday, Jan. 29:

7:30 a.m. - 9 a.m.,RUSD Administrative Service Center, 2220 Northwestern Ave.
7:30 a.m. - 9 a.m., Gilmore Middle School Auditorium, 2330 Northwestern Ave.
7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m., Horlick High School Theatre, 2119 Rapids Drive

Wednesday, Jan. 30

7:30 a.m. - 9 a.m., RUSD Administrative Service Center
6:30 p.m. - 8 p.m., RUSD Administrative Service Center

If you are unable to attend any of the forums, you may complete and return the Superintendent Search Survey to any district school (mark ATTN: Office of Communication) or mail or fax it directly to the address/fax number indicated on the bottom of the form. You may also e-mail your completed form directly to PROACT Search. The survey will be available on the district's website beginning on Monday, Jan. 28. All surveys must be returned by Friday, Feb. 8.