Racine Unified School District Board of Education Packet Summary — August 20, 2026
Key Items on the Agenda
The Board of Education’s business meeting agenda includes consent items covering academic achievement expectations, the student learning environment, policy changes tied to Wisconsin Act 89, personnel, July financial statements, overnight field trips, 2026-27 fines and fees, district-wide custodial supplies, and superintendent succession monitoring.
The agenda also includes a superintendent’s district update and an opportunity for public comment. District residents who wish to provide in-person testimony must be present and sign in before 6:30 p.m.; individual remarks are limited to two minutes, with up to one hour allotted for public comments.
Academic Achievement Expectations
The Board consent agenda includes proposed interpretations and indicators for Results-2, the district’s academic achievement policy covering math, science and social studies. The packet’s social studies material says the Board expects students to perform at or above grade-level proficiency on state assessments and expects the district to reduce performance gaps based on race/ethnicity, English language proficiency and special education identification.
Proposed social studies indicators focus on the percentage of students in grades 4, 8 and 10 who are meeting or advanced on the Forward Exam. One indicator calls for that percentage to increase each year overall, while another tracks annual improvement by demographic group.
Student Learning Environment
The Board is scheduled to consider a modification to Operational Expectation-11, Learning Environment/Treatment of Students. The draft retains the overarching expectation that the superintendent maintain a safe, respectful learning environment conducive to effective learning.
Among its provisions, OE-11 requires consistent enforcement of student behavior policies and directs the superintendent to respond to behaviors that disrupt learning, including drugs, alcohol or tobacco; firearms and other dangerous weapons; bullying, disrespect or violence; and noncompliance with the district’s Personal Communication Device policy. The draft identifies annual monitoring in October through an internal report.
Wisconsin Act 89 Policy Changes
The Board consent agenda includes modified Board bylaws and Neola policies addressing Wisconsin Act 89 mandates. The packet contains draft revisions to six policies: Student Supervision and Welfare (3213), Staff and School Officials Use of Personal Communication Devices (7530.02), Student Technology Acceptable Use and Safety (7540.03), Use of Social Media (7544), Volunteers (8120), and Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect and Sexual Misconduct (8462).
The proposed policies establish or reinforce requirements involving staff-student boundaries, reporting suspected misconduct, personal-device communications and approved communication platforms. The drafts identify District email/messaging, District-approved social media platforms and Apptegy Rooms as approved communication options in relevant policies.
The Student Supervision and Welfare draft would require parent or guardian notification when the district receives qualifying reports involving alleged sexual misconduct by school staff or certain other conduct covered by the policy. For reports received before the end of the regular school day, notification is required by 5:00 p.m. that day; reports received after school hours or on a non-school day require notification by noon the next calendar day.
The draft Student Technology Acceptable Use and Safety policy also addresses artificial intelligence. Students would be prohibited from entering personally identifiable information, confidential student or staff data, or non-public school records into AI services not explicitly approved and contracted by the district. Students would also be expected to disclose AI assistance when required by staff, while unauthorized AI-generated academic work would be treated as an academic-honesty violation.
Major Financial Items
July Financial Statements
July 2026 financial statements are on the superintendent consent agenda. The all-governmental-funds report shows a 2026-27 revenue budget of $415,408,728 and an expenditure budget of $495,950,697.82.
Through the report date, the statement lists $217,549.54 in revenue actuals and $13,476,356.52 in expenditure actuals, along with $12,738,512.33 in expenditure encumbrances or commitments. The report shows a beginning fund balance of $224,416,422.42 and a budgeted end-of-year fund balance of $143,800,894.60.
For Fund 10, the General Fund report lists a $354,511,448 revenue budget and $297,624,066 expenditure budget. It shows a budgeted net change in fund balance of $410,962 and a budgeted end-of-year fund balance of $98,505,454.64.
2026-27 Fines and Fees
The Board is scheduled to consider the district’s 2026-27 fine and fee schedule as a consent item. Examples include $45 materials and supplies fees for grades K-5, $65 textbook and materials fees for grades 6-12, a $120 annual instrument rental fee, $70 per high school athletic activity, and a $95 high school parking fee.
The schedule lists optional transportation at $300, subject to change. It also states that during the 2026-27 school year, all RUSD schools will provide one complete breakfast and one complete lunch at no charge to students regardless of eligibility through the Community Eligibility Program, which the packet says will remain in effect through the 2029-30 school year.
District-wide custodial supplies are also listed for consent consideration, although the packet text provided does not include supporting details about the proposed purchase.
Overnight Field Trips
The superintendent consent agenda includes overnight field trips. One proposal seeks approval for Horlick High School Theater Arts to travel to Orlando, Florida, from March 5 through March 10, 2027, for industry-led workshops with Disney Performing Arts and Universal Studios intended to reinforce professional theater standards in the curriculum. The packet lists 30 students and a district cost of $1,530, with a per-student cost of $2,800.
The packet also lists a Horlick High School HOSA officer retreat in Kenosha, Wisconsin, scheduled for August 18-19, 2026. Its stated purpose is team building and planning the HOSA career and technical student organization’s program of work, including events, fundraisers and meetings; the report lists no district cost and a $75 per-student cost.
Personnel Changes
Personnel changes are scheduled for consent consideration. The packet includes numerous new administrators, teachers and support employees preparing to begin assignments across the district, with many teaching positions effective August 25, 2026 and several educational-assistant positions effective August 26.
The personnel report also identifies terminations, resignations, leaves of absence and a retirement. The changes span elementary, K-8 and high schools as well as districtwide and specialized assignments.
Superintendent Succession Monitoring
The superintendent consent agenda includes a monitoring report for Operational Expectation-2, Superintendent Succession. The report covers July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026 and is submitted as In Compliance.
The policy requires qualified executive staff to be available to assume superintendent responsibilities during an absence or incapacitation and requires those designations to be communicated to district leadership and the Board. The report identifies Jody Bloyer, Daryl Burns, Chad Chapin and Jeffrey Miller as RUSD staff members holding superintendent licenses recognized by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
The report documents acting-superintendent assignments during superintendent absences over the monitoring period and states there were no emergencies in which the superintendent was incapacitated.
What to Watch at the Meeting
- Whether any Board or superintendent consent items are removed for separate consideration.
- Consideration of the Results-2 academic achievement interpretations and indicators, including the proposed measures for social studies performance and demographic gaps.
- Consideration of OE-11 changes affecting expectations for student behavior and the learning environment.
- Consideration of the Wisconsin Act 89-related policy package, particularly new requirements involving staff-student boundaries, communications, misconduct reporting and parent notification.
- Consideration of the 2026-27 fines and fees schedule and the overnight field-trip proposals.
- Review of July financial statements and the OE-2 superintendent succession monitoring report.
