Election results: Racine tax increase for schools, changes to Wauwatosa school board pass

Voters in the Racine area and in Wauwatosa decided Tuesday to pass referenda impacting local schools, according to preliminary results. Both referenda were passed by fewer than 1,000 votes.

In Racine, voters approved an increase to property taxes that will raise $190 million over five years to help cover the day-to-day expenses of running Racine Unified School District campuses. The referendum will raise property taxes by $35 for every $100,000 of property value to pay for salaries, educational programs and supplies.

In Wauwatosa, voters voted to change how they elect their school board members. The city will now elect school board members in an at-large format instead of selecting candidates to represent numbered districts.

Voter turnout in both areas was strong as Wisconsinites also weighed in on a State Supreme Court race, the State Superintendent for Public Instruction and a voter ID-related ballot question.

Emily Files

In Racine, 46,017 voters weighed in on the referendum, according to Racine County results. About 51% voted in favor.

In Wauwatosa, 12,783 voters cast ballots, according to Milwaukee County results. About 51% voted for the referendum.

Here's what to know about the Racine and Wauwatosa schools referenda:

The district says the referendum is needed to handle the operation costs of running the district, including:

• Paying teacher salaries and hiring and retaining more teachers to keep class sizes low
• Funding the Academies of Racine and college preparatory programs such as AP, IB and dual credit
• Hiring school safety and event safety staff
• Bringing in more literacy coaches

Voters may have felt a little déjà vu at the ballot box: They just approved an increase to property taxes in 2020.

However, that funding can only be used to support the district's capital program, which is responsible for building and maintaining school facilities. The 2020 referendum passed by just five votes.

In addition to weighing in on four school board seats, Wauwatosa voters decided to change how they will elect board members in the future.

Currently, school board candidates run for a specific one of seven numbered, open seats. Unlike other school boards, none of the numbered districts are specific to any geographic region in Wauwatosa.

On Tuesday, voters agreed to approve an open election system where all candidates run for all open seats and the top voter-getters are declared the winners.

For example, if three seats are up for election, the candidates who receive the three highest number of votes will win the seats. No candidate will need to declare themselves running for a specific "district."

Katherine Kokal is the education reporter at 89.7 WUWM - Milwaukee's NPR. Have a question about schools or an education story idea? You can reach her at kokal@uwm.edu