[{"_1":2,"_100":-5,"_101":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6145920,"mediaKeyId","5529944-71c4b1ce00b6f028a4745a0c9e510446","parentId",5529944,"title","Racine schools propose 300 city bus passes for students at lower per‑pass cost for 2025–26","audioSeconds",247,"startMs",3387000,"endMs",3634000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5529944-71c4b1ce00b6f028a4745a0c9e510446&start=3387&end=3634","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5529944-71c4b1ce00b6f028a4745a0c9e510446/thumbnail_3387000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6145920/Wisconsin/Racine-schools-propose-300-city-bus-passes-for-students-at-lower-perpass-cost-for-202526","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6145920-e37a4e25d1b283e09ceac35b75053627/orig.mp4?Expires=1770501277&Signature=mB8WEY0VwKGeglF47T3sZ0X-dHKsTajisrUzZ2~23rGVHHqMCWITqEfqKo1lVtOTAEyB7P1RD9etYa0lskXcN7tDghkybuiVD5ubwjb4aSh5BA44fOKzGznnzAinPX29UW90yStGa081Zktk3meQLJQBS8TyXFHWMhyXTTl7F0mnlPOeonUb0HqwQyy0mJucf8Vm8kJTdWqGNawhlQKpqs~nK6vOx17tFRNMkKLPXifs6zCt~rmzu9565WGgebxR5fdK8l8~8L3vMv7JO1c-NoP3e8UmFVs9032ubNA5giuSv8eJSvB~9PdOPLDdzsvOo9or0-yjCSuUV3sYyF7q9Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Racine Unified School District, WI","date","2025-08-05T07:51:45.347Z","article","RACINE, Wis. — Racine Unified staff presented a 2025–26 Racine Transit contract proposal Monday that would purchase 300 monthly passes for students who live near city bus stops and use city transit instead of yellow school buses.

District staff said the contract covers 300 passes to serve students at several schools, primarily shifting students who live within a half‑mile of an existing city bus stop to the city system rather than operating a district yellow bus route. The proposal totals $115,000 for the year and was presented as a continuation of the district’s long‑standing partnership with Racine Transit.

Nut graf: Staff said the contract reduces per‑student cost compared with recent years — from about $62 per pass in prior years to roughly $38 per pass under the new agreement — and limits city‑bus use to qualified students, with most middle‑schoolers returned to yellow buses this year, staff said.

Board members sought clarity on why city passes are needed and how eligibility is determined; staff said passes are assigned to students who live within a half‑mile of a bus stop and noted the change reduces the number of passes needed because the district moved middle school students back to yellow buses. Staff also said city passes will function like regular monthly bus passes, allowing students to ride to school, return home and use the pass for extracurricular trips.

No vote was taken Monday; staff said the formal contract will be available at the district’s business meeting for approval.

Ending: The board will consider the final contract at the next business meeting after staff provide the formal contract language.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Board Work Session","oneSentenceSummary","District staff briefed the board on a proposed 2025–26 contract with Racine Transit for 300 student passes priced at roughly $115,000 total (about $38 per student per month compared with prior $62 per student), covering students who live within a half‑mile of bus stops.","taxTitle","Racine Unified School District, School Districts, Wisconsin","taxId",14859,"location","Wisconsin","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6145925,"Racine schools weigh partial fleet lease to replace aging food‑service and special‑education vehicles",1412,3653000,5065000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5529944-71c4b1ce00b6f028a4745a0c9e510446&start=3653&end=5065","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5529944-71c4b1ce00b6f028a4745a0c9e510446/thumbnail_3653000.jpg","/articles/6145925/Wisconsin/Racine-schools-weigh-partial-fleet-lease-to-replace-aging-foodservice-and-specialeducation-vehicles","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6145925-1efd4514e8c53a28de0e7ecdcec74e3c/orig.mp4?Expires=1770501277&Signature=WCLcZfQ9ldFpjuy~-PIj8mGVMASIHR04imLkagupZBZFlrXshqOtCXmbzPPOawImcQyYkummRhoiVPWoLhMvlSkkgj9C51pBUrqzivOYiFwyi1HrTFvvyKIaE3lHd~KgqdWlQGviknkN5wmh6ayRYDjCamxm8vrF6t~1Dd3dW6FpGnxI9Yc49VVeQScW8r08YgiiuudLK1vi1YCFYhLPS5Jh1A2tmTKqyULvlmBguz36YRoV~5kPBqUzzrqVn5PauV3hVX1rAMkLauHbrUE8tbbzawWnOxvy0K5KCAd5u8QcNe06Wb1~ID4OyNZJA~6w-v2iojpxLPayYZW1PoIAww__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","RACINE, Wis. — Racine Unified officials presented a plan on Monday to enter a partial vehicle lease program with Enterprise Fleet Management to replace aging, high‑maintenance vehicles that serve food service and special‑education transportation.

Peter Reynolds, director of operations, said the district has vehicles dating to 2002–2008 that are increasingly expensive to maintain; the district spent about $50,000 on fleet repairs in the last year. Reynolds said Enterprise proposes a leases‑to‑own model that would replace the oldest units, shorten average vehicle life cycles to roughly five years and use resale equity to fund future replacements.

“Two vehicles predate the anti‑lock braking standardization of 2007,” Enterprise’s area sales manager said in the presentation, noting that many district units also predate electronic stability control, rear automatic braking and backup‑camera standards the industry now considers safety essentials.

Nut graf: The proposed partial program would start with about 10 high‑need vehicles — four refrigerated 16‑foot box trucks, one dry box truck and five minivans — with leases structured so the district accrues equity as vehicles are paid down and then sells them at higher resale values by replacing them sooner.

Enterprise told the board it manages more than 2 million vehicles globally and cited a neighboring district as a case study for similar work. The company described financing through a Sourcewell cooperative pricing agreement and said the district would pay monthly to own the vehicles; Enterprise would arrange funding and resale. Reynolds said the district can continue to perform routine maintenance inhouse and would send complex repairs (for example, refrigeration units) to qualified vendors.

Board members asked about ownership, maintenance responsibility, the program’s fiscal impact and electrification options. Enterprise representatives said the company functions as the financing party (the vehicles are held by Enterprise while the district pays them down), that maintenance can remain inhouse or be outsourced depending on district preference, and that hybrid and electrification options can be evaluated as the program expands. Reynolds said first‑year budget estimates vary with delivery timing but showed an upper estimate near $170,000 for year‑one lease payments and a working projection closer to $130,000 after selling older units; figures are preliminary and delivery lead times for large trucks may extend project timing.

No approval was taken Monday; staff said the plan will return for formal board action at a business meeting once pricing and delivery schedules are finalized. The board requested a comparative analysis that shows the district’s cost of buying outright versus leasing for the targeted vehicles and asked staff to include electrification and total cost‑of‑ownership comparisons before taking final action.

Ending: The partial lease proposal is intended as a pilot focused on the highest‑need vehicles; if successful, staff said the district could expand the program to more fleet units with board approval.","District staff presented a proposal from Enterprise Fleet Management to lease a portion of the vehicle fleet — targeting refrigeration box trucks and special‑needs vans — to reduce maintenance costs, shorten replacement cycles and capture resale equity.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6145930,"Racine schools roll out expanded vaping-prevention lessons and a diversion program to avoid expulsions",2376,930000,3306000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5529944-71c4b1ce00b6f028a4745a0c9e510446&start=930&end=3306","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5529944-71c4b1ce00b6f028a4745a0c9e510446/thumbnail_930000.jpg","/articles/6145930/Wisconsin/Racine-schools-roll-out-expanded-vaping-prevention-lessons-and-a-diversion-program-to-avoid-expulsions","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6145930-ba65eb0d85b30de312d1e8ac6839a705/orig.mp4?Expires=1770501277&Signature=olRmPy4CxUxQNcFMt2Ju25cB9tD08NcOXq8oXzMzUO3BnJY4LnJAQ2Q8RYaug0cDM8I3V5LdOCQWIe5vWC7lynsvI8WuSa3Ttv2p-HNrGA2uK6TbZNevDk-aeTjOIzsPs6hUSu~esSkl9bBDwfeOXQw-4ZLQkRk9vWfeobDZOEUq9zaVgYClUB-cTOeFJxuDxtffLCaPNqSRIXNTfbtz9s1-WamyLlkOBaQmx6eEgXbljAyn1ZgS0OUzVZVsrsyuCQPSx5Uo7fSMlt337Kb5w2866f46eaUm3WatbbfVtmJ40CY3tuU-uIuwSs2bUfjIpmDuo1tXNx3iQsKs~SRI3Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","RACINE, Wis. — Racine Unified School District staff on Monday told the board they will expand classroom vaping-prevention lessons, publish parent resources and pilot a 10‑week diversion program that can be offered in place of automatic expulsion for some student substance incidents.

Andrea Rickers, executive director of student services, said the district received grant funding for prevention work and has partnered with Focus on Community to deliver classroom curricula and intervention services. “The number 1 reason that students and children, kids across the country have identified as the why is that their family and friends do it,” Rickers said, describing the social drivers that staff hope the curriculum will address.

The district plans to add lessons from the Catch My Breath curriculum to existing programming: three additional lessons in sixth grade, two lessons for grades 6–9, and optional fourth‑ and fifth‑grade materials if the board agrees. Staff also plan to purchase a short module called Fentanyl Facts for grades 6–9 and consider four extra substance‑misuse lessons for fifth grade. Materials and links from the CDC, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and Children’s Wisconsin will be posted on the district website for families.

Nut graf: The update is meant to reduce student harms, expand prevention education to younger grades and offer a remediation path that keeps students in programming rather than automatically removing them. In particular, the district will pilot “Empowering Futures,” a program that pairs SMART Recovery principles with the All Stars prevention curriculum as an alternative route in some expulsion cases.

Most important details: the Empowering Futures pilot will be delivered by Focus on Community and uses the SMART (Self‑Management and Recovery Training) and All Stars curricula. The program runs 10 weeks, with three two‑hour sessions per week; participants must meet a 90% attendance and active‑participation requirement and a parent or guardian must provide permission and engage at least once during the course. If students comply with program requirements, a pending expulsion would be held in abeyance; non‑compliance would resume the formal expulsion process.

District staff described the broader prevention package as a combination of classroom lessons (life skills taught in grades 3–7 currently, with expansion under review), evidence‑based screening and brief interventions (SBIRT) and community outreach. Jason Mickma of Focus on Community described a hands‑on parent outreach activity, Hidden in Plain Sight, in which volunteers walk through a staged youth bedroom to see items parents might not recognize as signs of use. “Every single person that has walked through that that I’ve been present for has walked up saying, ‘Wow. I had no idea,’” Mickma said.

Board members raised questions about where the Empowering Futures sessions will be held and student access. Staff said the pilot will be housed at Park High School after school hours and is open to students districtwide; families may request assistance with transportation. Board member comments underscored community concerns about the proliferation of vape shops. “There are so many vape stores opening, and it’s become so popular,” Board Member Harris said, linking retail availability to youth accessibility.

Staff noted other supports: in‑school screening and brief intervention (SBIRT) by trained staff, life‑skills classes in elementary and middle grades, parent toolkits and videos, and printed materials for schools. The presentation referenced a district settlement fund available for prevention work; a board member said the amount available from that fund is “around $400,000.”

The board did not take a formal vote Monday; staff presented the plan for consideration and said elements will appear for approval at future business meetings. The materials shown to the board will be posted on the district website and used in outreach to parent groups, the parent leadership network and the family and community engagement office.

Ending: Staff said the pilot and curriculum expansions aim to begin in the coming school year, with the Empowering Futures pilot starting in the fall. The board directed staff to continue development of materials and logistics and to return with any items that require formal board approval.
","Racine Unified presented an updated vaping-prevention plan that expands curriculum for grades 5–9, adds resources for parents, and will pilot an out-of-school diversion program (Empowering Futures) as an alternative to mandatory expulsion for certain substance incidents.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Racine schools propose 300 city bus passes for students at lower per‑pass cost for 2025–26

Racine schools weigh partial fleet lease to replace aging food‑service and special‑education vehicles

Racine schools roll out expanded vaping-prevention lessons and a diversion program to avoid expulsions