Racine Unified School District (RUSD) is a school district serving the eastern portion of Racine County, Wisconsin. It encompasses a 100 sqmi area, and serves the city of Racine and six other towns and villages, which had a combined population of 139,193 at the 2010 census. RUSD is the fifth-largest school district in Wisconsin. It has 22 schools, with a student enrollment of more than 16,000. The district employs 1,757 teachers and 171 administrators.

History

On June 26, 1961, the City of Racine school system merged with 24 schools in the surrounding area to form the Unified School District No. 1 of Racine. The issue had been put to a referendum earlier that year, on April 4, and all seven municipalities of eastern Racine County – Caledonia, Elmwood Park, Mount Pleasant, North Bay, Racine, Sturtevant, and Wind Point – voted in favor of the unification. The district moved to desegregate its schools in 1975, in an effort which was regarded as widely successful and held up as a model to other cities. A pair of referendums in 2015 asked residents of Caledonia and Sturtevant whether they wanted to secede from RUSD and create separate school districts. Both narrowly won, garnering majority of the vote.

Schools

Racine Unified operates 22 schools across eastern Racine County. One, the Bull Early Education Center, is a preschool serving children under the age of five. Seven are elementary schools, educating children between four-year-old kindergarten and fifth grade. There are eight K-8 schools, for 4K through eighth grades, two 6-12 schools (grades 6-12) and three high schools, for ninth through twelfth grades.

Elementary schools

K-8 schools

6-12 Schools

High schools

In 2016 the district instituted block scheduling for high schools.

Other facilities and programs

Administration

School board

The district's school board consists of nine members, each serving three-year terms, with three positions coming up for election every year. Officers are elected by a board vote every year. The board usually meets on the first and third Mondays of each month.

Superintendent

The superintendent of the district, whose role is to conduct the affairs and programs of the district, is employed by the school board. The superintendent of Racine Unified School District is Soren Gajewski, hired in 2024. Gajewski previously served as the district's chief academic officer and has been in education for 20 years. In 2001 Thomas Hicks became the superintendent. Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard replaced in him in 2008 when he took retirement, and subsequent superintendents were Jackson V. Parker III, James J. Shaw and Ann Laing.