Racine Unified Officers Remain Unchanged

The Racine Unified School District Board of Education retained its slate of officers at its annual reorganization meeting Monday.

Bill Van Atta was re-elected School Board president on an 8-1 vote. He was also president in 2009 and 2010. Dennis Wiser received the other vote for president in balloting among board members.

Others re-elected to School Board officer posts were: Susan Kutz, vice president; Don Nielsen, treasurer; and Gretchen Warner, clerk.

Wiser, Pastor Melvin Hargrove and Pamala Handrow, who were re-elected to three-year terms on April 5, were sworn in by Racine County Circuit Judge Richard J. Kreul.

In remarks to the School Board, Judge Kreul, who served on the board in the 1970s, sympathized with members’ challenges and encouraged them to use “resourcefulness, creativity and imagination” for the good of the community.

“The sun has risen more than 11,000 times, yet the conundrums you face are exactly the same as the conundrums we faced 32 years ago,” he said.

In urging School Board members to exercise leadership, Judge Kreul wished them “the wisdom of Solomon, the patience of Job and the humility of Mother Teresa.”