BY BRENDAN O’BRIEN
JOURNAL TIMES | Posted: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 12:00 am
CALEDONIA - The money to study seceding from the Racine Unified School District will likely be in the village's 2008 budget.
During a special meeting Wednesday night, the Village Board indicated it plans to include $30,000 in next year's budget, to pay for the study.
The board, however, did not vote on whether to commission the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance for the job. The study would examine the financial feasibility of the village splitting from Unified, with Caledonia forming its own school district.
Village President Ron Coutts said the board will vote on the measure Nov. 20 when it votes on the 2008 budget.
"As we look at Caledonia and to bring some type of (commercial) growth here, the first thing we need to look at is our education system," Coutts said.
A handful of residents were present during the hour-long discussion about the merits of the study and of creating a Caledonia school district.
"We need to know the answers … that's what the people are saying," resident Kathy Burton said. "There is a want for this study to happen. Let's do this study and figure this out."
The study will determine how much a school district will cost village taxpayers if the village opts to secede from Unified.
The cost of the study would increase by $5,000 if the village wanted to analyze the impact the split might have on Unified. Brian Dey, the only Unified board member who attended, said he would support having Unified pay for that analysis.
The cost would also increase if the village chose to study the impact a new school district would have on students who attend a private school or another public school in the area and whether those students would instead choose to attend within a Caledonia school district.