Dec. 20, 2021 9:45p
(WGTD)---The Racine School Board is back to full strength.
Board members voted Monday night to fill a board vacancy by appointing to the board a former director of Racine’s Head Start program, Tonya Evans. She was supported by a majority of the board members who voted. Runner-up with three votes was an attorney in the Racine County District Attorney’s office, Theresa Villar.
Two other applicants did not receive any votes.
Evans replaces Amy Cimbalnick, who resigned for family reasons.
If Evans wants to keep her seat, she’ll need to run in next spring’s election.
Also Monday night, the board voted to keep open an elementary school that had been targeted for closure.
Board members responded to pleas from parents and teachers from Jones Elementary, which is located on the city’s south side off of Chicory Rd.
RUSD Superintendent Eric Gallien had recommended pushing up the closing date for Jones under the district’s modernization and downsizing plan because of unforeseen circumstances due to a court challenge of the results of the recent facilities referendum. "When we did this plan we went into this plan understanding that we need flexibility," Gallien told the board. "As we go back and revisit the plan, things have changed. None of us knew the pandemic was going to happen. None of us knew that the funds for the referendum would be held up."
The pandemic led to a steeper drop in enrollment than originally anticipated.
The state supreme court is expected to rule sometime next year on a challenge to the results of the referendum, which is the financing mechanism for the facilities plan.
While voting to keep Jones open, the board voted 7-0 with one abstention to close Janes Elementary at the end of the school year.
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