If the idea of a separate Caledonia school district sounds like a tough sell to some, the idea of creating one large school district out of dozens of smaller ones was an equally tough sell decades ago.

The history of how Unified came to be is increasingly relevant as the community considers the possibility of a district without a Caledonia, following the release of a study by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance looking at the cost of creating a separate school district.

The Racine Unified School District has weathered past attempts at secession, de-unification and dissolution.

It's been nearly half a century since Unified came into existence. In 1961, residents of Racine and the outlying communities of Caledonia, Mount Pleasant, Sturtevant and others voted to consolidate.

That's the same year the United States jumped into the Bay of Pigs. The Vietnam War was on the horizon. Four years earlier, Sputnik had frightened education experts around the country, spawning a movement to improve education in American schools, especially high schools.

It was also a time when dozens of one-room schools dotted the landscape that Unified now covers.

They had names like Trautwein, Husher, Hoods Creek, Treadwell and Mygatts. The tiny schools, serving mostly kindergarten through 8th grade, each had their own school board.

The City of Racine had its own school district. Then someone had the idea to consolidate them all, which included dissolving some 25 districts and consolidating them with the city school system.

There were study committees. Action committees. Proponents and opponents. For five years people studied the possibility of this unified school district.

Many of the concerns from unification are chief concerns residents and leaders in Caledonia now cite for wanting their own school district.

There was concern about industry, orderly planning and development in the city and outlying areas. Jobs, qualified workers and taxes all were a part of the discussion.

A state law, passed in 1959, paved the way for consolidation of the community schools east of Interstate 94.

In fact, it compelled them to do something by requiring that all areas in the state be in a high school district by 1962. At the time, outlying school districts east of the Interstate sent their high school students to Racine schools and paid tuition.

There are currently 45 "unified" school districts in Wisconsin, out of a total of 426 districts, according to the Department of Public Instruction. Kenosha still uses the term "unified" in their name, but changed from a unified to a common school district during the 1994-95 school year. Districts can be unified, common or union, according to the state.

The consolidation of smaller county districts in the rural areas east of the Interstate had already started in the late 1950s, but the push to create a unified district in Racine started soon after the law was passed. The law was passed for this area, according to accounts from that time.

Racine County officials helped write the law and supported it in Madison.

George Hnilicka has listened with some interest to Caledonia's secession talk. He's been around as long as Racine Unified has.

Hnilicka, 81, was county superintendent of schools when Racine Unified was created and went on to work in the new school district as an administrator.

As county superintendent, Hnilicka actually issued the orders dissolving 25 school districts and creating a unified elementary and high school district that encompassed most of the area east of I-94.

He always supported the idea of a larger school district and what it could offer students, so talk of one community wanting to leave the district is a little disconcerting to the Racine native.

"I'm saddened because it was the whole concept of making a school district that would be strong and would be a leader in the educational field," said Hnilicka, who moved from Racine to Mount Pleasant. "I'm sorry that it has not developed that way."