RUSD legislative committee recommends four businesses for district honor roll, approves minutes

Racine Unified School District legislative committee members on June 1 voted to recommend four local partners for the district's annual business honor roll and approved committee minutes from Dec. 15, 2025.

The committee recommended Festival Foods, Carthage College, Ray and Fisher USA for the honor roll and agreed to forward the recommendation to the full board as a consent-agenda item at the district's next business meeting. "These are businesses that have been integral ... and they provide either really great opportunities for our kids or provide a lot of resources for us to spend on our students," said Mr. Gayski, a district staff member who explained the selection process and offered to provide a list of past honorees for newer board members.

The recommendation followed a brief discussion about how honorees are chosen and whether other local partners could be considered. Committee members said the list typically reflects longstanding partners that offer internships, classroom support or other resources; the committee also noted the district limits the number of local businesses honored each year to up to five. "We could maybe provide you guys with that list too so you know who's been recognized over the last, you know, 10 years or so," Mr. Gayski said.

A motion to approve the four honorees was made and, based on the transcript discussion, Mr. Clemens moved and Mrs. Allen seconded the recommendation. The committee voted to recommend the slate, with Mrs. Barbian, Mr. Clemens, Miss Far and Mrs. Allen recorded as voting yes; one member stated they would recuse themselves on item two of the list.

Earlier in the meeting the committee approved its minutes from the Dec. 15, 2025 legislative committee meeting. Mr. Clemens moved to approve the minutes and Mrs. Allen seconded; the motion carried with four yes votes.

The committee confirmed the honorees will be forwarded to the full board on the consent agenda at the next business meeting. Members set the next legislative committee meeting for July 20 at 5:30 p.m. and thanked Mrs. Valar for volunteering to chair the committee. The meeting adjourned without further action.