Racine Unified School District elections (2015)
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Three seats on the Racine Unified Board of Education were up for general election on April 7, 2015. At-large board incumbents Wally Rendón, Don Nielsen and Kim Plache sought re-election. They faced challengers Bryn Biemeck and Lisa Parham.[1] While Nielsen and Plache were successful in their re-election bids, Rendón was defeated by Parham. She was the third-highest vote recipient in the election with over 1,000 more votes than Rendón.
Voters in the villages of Caledonia and Sturtevant were nearly evenly split on their nonbinding advisory referendums as to whether or not they should secede from the school district to form their own which also appeared on the ballot. Additionally, the district's superintendent has been cleared of an undisclosed allegation regarding time she spent substitute teaching at Knapp Elementary Schools.
About the district
Racine Unified School District is located in Racine, the county seat of Racine County, in southeastern Wisconsin. The county was home to approximately 195,041 residents, according to 2013 estimates by the United States Census Bureau.[2] During the 2011-2012 school year, Racine Unified School District was the fourth-largest school district in Wisconsin and served 20,809 students.[3]
Demographics
Racine County underperformed in comparison to the rest of Wisconsin in terms of higher education achievement in 2012. The United States Census Bureau found that 22.8 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 26.4 percent for Wisconsin as a whole. The median household income in Racine County from 2008 to 2012 was $54,900 compared to $52,627 for the state. During the same time period, the poverty rate in the county was 12.6 percent and 12.5 percent for the entire state.[2]
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Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Voter and candidate information
The Racine Unified School District Board of Education consists of nine members elected at-large to three-year terms.[5] Because no more than two candidates filed for any board position, no primary election was held on February 17, 2015. The general election was held on April 7, 2015.
To be elected to the board, candidates must reside in the boundaries of the school district for 28 days prior to the filing of a "Declaration of Candidacy" form. Furthermore, at the time of taking office, each candidate must be a resident of the apportioned area he or she is elected to represent.[6] Candidates must also be 18 years old and citizens of the United States. Unless pardoned, those who have been convicted of a felony are not eligible for election to office in Wisconsin.[7]
Candidates had between December 1, 2014, and January 6, 2015, to collect between 100 and 200 signatures for their nomination papers. The signatures had to come from residents of the district which the candidate sought election to represent, but the petition circulators were not required to reside in the district or municipality. Circulators were required to be U.S. citizens and 18 years or older.[8]
Voters could register to vote in the election at the polling place on the election day. Proof of residence was required when registering to vote.[9] In March 2015, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to Wisconsin's voter ID law allowing it to take effect. However, Wisconsin officials stated they would not enforce the law until after the election on April 7, 2015. No photo identification was required to vote in this election.[10]
Elections
2015
Candidates
At-large
Don Nielsen 
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Kim Plache
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Wally Rendón | |||
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| Bryn Biemeck | Lisa Parham
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Election results
| Racine Unified School District, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2015 |
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| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Kim Plache Incumbent |
25.3% | 11,183 | |
| Nonpartisan | Don Nielsen Incumbent |
21.7% | 9,571 | |
| Nonpartisan | Lisa Parham |
20.9% | 9,248 | |
| Nonpartisan | Wally Rendón Incumbent | 17% | 7,494 | |
| Nonpartisan | Bryn Biemeck | 15.1% | 6,656 | |
| Total Votes | 44,152 | |||
| Source: Racine County, Wisconsin, "Final Official Election Results for 04-07-2015," accessed April 22, 2015 | ||||
Endorsements
The Journal Times endorsed newcomers Bryn Biemeck and Lisa Parham as well as incumbent Kim Plache for the three seats up for election.[11]
Campaign finance
Candidates received a total of $3,001.00 and spent a total of $2,983.15 in this election, according to the Racine Unified School District Clerk for School Board Elections. All of the candidates except Bryn Biemeck filed as exempt from campaign finance reporting.[12]
Candidates were only required to file campaign finance reports if they did one of the following:
- accepted contributions, made disbursements or incurred obligations in an aggregate amount of more than $1,000 in a calendar year
- accepted more than $100 from a single source in the calendar year, except contributions made by candidates to their own campaigns
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
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| Don Nielsen | Exempt | ||
| Kim Plache | Exempt | ||
| Wally Rendón | Exempt | ||
| Bryn Biemeck | $3,001.00 | $2,983.15 | $17.85 |
| Lisa Parham | Exempt | ||
Past elections
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What was at stake?
2015
Issues in the district
Board vacancy filled
Outside of the school board election, the Racine Unified Board of Education was guaranteed a new board member in 2015 following the resignation of board Vice President Chris Eperjesy. Effective February 23, 2015, Eperjesy was no longer a member of the board due to his moving outside of the district to take a new job in Minneapolis, Minn. [13]
On March 23, 2015, the remaining board members choose Chuck Goodremote to fill the vacancy created by Eperjesy's resignation. Goodremote, who works as Modine Manufacturing Co.'s chief information officer, was chosen for the position over three other candidates. They were Brian O’Connell, a city development director; Adrienne Moore, an assistant state public defender; and Bryn Biemeck, who was already running for election to the board. The board did not quickly agree on Goodremote, and his approval was not unanimous. Goodremote did not win majority approval until the fifth round of voting, although he had the support of four board members for the first four rounds.[14]
School busing dispute
The Racine Unified School District and Renaissance Schools, a local voucher school, resolved a busing dispute that had Racine Unified threatening to stop busing 44 fourth-and-fifth grade students due to liability issues. Before arrangements were made for the district to continue busing the voucher school's students, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) promised to file a complaint against the district for Renaissance Schools and the families affected.[15][16]
The conflict started when Racine Unified said it would be ending bus services for students attending Renaissance Schools on February 1, 2015, though it had been busing those students since the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year. District officials said the reason behind stopping the bus service was that the leaders of the voucher school had deceived them. The Racine Unified bus service dropped off students at their school in Mount Vernon, but Renaissance Schools would later transport those students to a different school in Kenosha.[15]
“Not only was the District misled in order to meet the needs of this private school, but Renaissance School administration also caused liability issues for the District,” said Racine Unified spokeswoman Stacy Tapp. She further explained that the district is only required to drop off students at their school of attendance, but that the district could still be held liable for students' safety while they are transported from Mount Vernon to Kenosha.[15]
“The school district has a legal obligation to transport these children to our school and we intend to hold them to that obligation,” founder of Renaissance Schools Frank Trecroci said.[15]
During negotiations between the two parties, Racine Unified extended its deadline to end busing services to February 27, 2015, and offered $150 to each family affected by the busing situation to help find new transportation. WILL asserted that the district was legally obligated to bus students through the end of the school year.[15]
On February 20, 2015, Racine Unified and Renaissance Schools came to an agreement without going to court. Racine Unified agreed to continue busing the students for the rest of the 2014-2015 school year, and Renaissance Schools agreed to assume liability for students while they are being transported between campuses.[16]
Nearby communities vote on splitting from district
On April 7, 2015, the villages of Caledonia and Sturtevant took to the polls to have their say on whether or not they would like to secede from the Racine Unified School District and create their own school district. The results, however, indicated the communities were evenly divided on the issue. In Caledonia, 49.85 percent of voters were in favor of pursing a separate district while 47.66 percent were not. Similarly in Sturtevant, 47.50 percent were for the move while 46.69 percent opposed it.[17] The vote was a nonbinding, advisory referendum.[18][19]
Mount Pleasant, another nearby village, did not put the advisory referendum on the ballot. Village Administrator Kurt Wahlen explained that they did not pursue the referendum because current state law prohibits them from leaving the Racine Unified School District.[18] The law allows school districts to veto any secessions, but supporters of a split also pursued state legislation that would eliminate that veto power. State Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-21) attended Caledonia's village meeting to put the referendum on the ballot and said he plans to help introduce that legislation into a bill.[19]
Putting the advisory referendum on the ballot did not cost the villages any additional tax money because they added it to the regularly scheduled spring municipal and school board elections.[19] Village leaders plan to conduct a study to find out how feasible it would be to create a new school district. Caledonia Village President Bob Bradley said such a study would not exceed $30,000 and would follow the model of a similar study conducted in 2007. State law must also be changed in order to allow municipalities to separate from a school district.[18][20]
Complaint against superintendent proven unsubstantiated
Lolli Haws, superintendent of Racine Unified School District, was under investigation after a complaint was filed following an undisclosed incident when she was substitute teaching at Knapp Elementary School in April 2014. Haws explained that she had substituted in order to gain a better understanding of how the administration and the community can support teachers. After experiencing a few difficult moments in the classroom, Haws said she sees the need for proper staffing levels and manageable class sizes.[21][22]
The investigation into the incident was conducted by Kenosha County Division of Children and Family Services, in order to avoid any conflict of interest between Knapp Elementary School, Racine Unified School District and Racine County. After concluding their investigation in June 2014, county officials determined the complaint against Haws was unsubstantiated.[21][23]
Key deadlines
The following were key deadlines for Racine Unified School District 2015 elections:[8][24]
| Deadline | Event |
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| December 1, 2014 | Candidate signature gathering period began |
| January 6, 2015 | Signature submission deadline 5 p.m. |
| February 9, 2015 | Campaign finance report due |
| March 30, 2015 | Campaign finance report due |
| April 7, 2015 | General election day |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Wisconsin elections, 2015
One seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court and three Racine County Circuit Court seats were up for election on April 7, 2015. The election for county executive and a nonbinding advisory referendum question regarding a possible splitting of the school district also appeared on the ballot.[25] Statewide, a constitutional amendment question regarding the selection of the state's supreme court chief justice was on the ballot.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Racine Unified School District Wisconsin. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Racine Unified School District | Wisconsin | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Racine Unified School District Office of Communication & Community Engagement," January 7, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 United States Census Bureau, "Racine County, Wisconsin," accessed August 28, 2014
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed January 27, 2014
- ↑ Racine County Clerk, "Past elections," accessed February 5, 2014
- ↑ Racine Unified School District, "Board Governance Policy," accessed February 5, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Wisconsin Candidate Eligibility," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Candidates: Getting on the Ballot," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Wisconsin State Legislature, "State Statutes: CHAPTER 8," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Voter Registration," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ The New York Times, "Wisconsin Decides Not to Enforce Voter ID Law," March 23, 2015
- ↑ The Journal Times, "Journal Times editorial: Unified School Board — We endorse Plache, Biemeck and Parham," April 1, 2015
- ↑ Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Pat Meyer, Racine Unified School District Deputy Clerk for School Board Elections," August 28, 2015
- ↑ The Journal Times, "Eperjesy to leave Twin Disc, school board," February 10, 2015
- ↑ The Journal Times, "Unified School Board selects new member," March 23, 2015
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 The Journal Times, "Busing issue between Renaissance Schools, Unified may go to court," February 17, 2015
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 The Journal Times, "Agreement reached in school busing dispute," February 23, 2015
- ↑ Racine County, "2ND UNOFFICIAL ELECTION RESULTS 04-07-15," accessed April 7, 2015
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 The Journal Times, "Caledonia, Sturtevant looking to ask voters’ opinion on leaving Unified," January 24, 2015
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 The Journal Times, "Caledonia schools vote a go," January 26, 2015
- ↑ ABC 2, "Caledonia ready for next steps to split from Racine Unified School District," April 8, 2015
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 620TMJ4 Wisconsin's Radio Station, "Racine Unified's superintendent under investigation," May 19, 2014
- ↑ WISN.com, "Racine Unified superintendent under investigation," May 19, 2014
- ↑ The Journal Times, "Investigation concludes complaint against superintendent is unsubstantiated," June 20, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORT DATES," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ Village of Caledonia, "NOTICE OF ELECTION Spring Election - April 7, 2015," accessed January 9, 2015
| 2015 Racine Unified School District Elections | |
| Racine County, Wisconsin | |
| Election date: | April 7, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Don Nielsen • Incumbent, Kim Plache • Incumbent, Wally Rendón • Bryn Biemeck • Lisa Parham |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
