Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Early Childhood topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Early childhood social worker urges stronger outreach and logistics fixes; cites lost staff and missing mail slot
Summary
A district early childhood social worker who is retiring after 32 years told the board the department lacks an administrative voice, has lost staff and needs improved mail handling to receive medical records for evaluations; she also criticized the Encore Awards process as divisive.
Cheryl Howinski, an early childhood social worker in Racine Unified who said she has worked for the district for 32 years, addressed the board during public engagement and urged stronger outreach and administrative support for early childhood services.
Howinski said early childhood staff are often “the first point of contact with a family” and that many families do not understand district early childhood options. She said the department processed 417 referrals in 2022–23 and that it recently lost 40 percent of its early childhood secretary positions. She also said the early childhood supervisor’s duties were absorbed by others after a retirement and that a previous director had been reassigned.
Howinski raised a logistical barrier: the early childhood office, she said, has no dedicated U.S. mail slot at its basement office in the CPC, which slows delivery of medical records needed for eligibility determinations. She described a current student with legal blindness whose documentation took eight weeks to circulate because of mail routing, and said absence of timely records can delay or prevent qualification for services.
Howinski also criticized the district’s Encore Awards process as creating discord among staff and suggested recognizing employees for ethical decisions and quiet advocacy (for example, staff who report child abuse or ensure IEPs are followed). She concluded by thanking the district for 32 years of service and reiterated her support for RUSD.
Why this matters: Early childhood identification and timely eligibility documentation affect access to services for young children; Howinski pointed to staffing and administrative-process gaps that she said impede the department’s ability to enroll and serve families efficiently.
