Delays affecting new Red Apple school construction, opening timeline

Red Apple Elementary is scheduled to expand into a K-8 school at a new location at 1012 Center St.

The new building was slated to open in August 2025 for the start of the 2025-26 school year, but it appears that will not happen.

According to Stacy Tapp, RUSD chief of communication and community engagement, the school is not on track to open in August 2025 because of the “delayed closing” of a land transfer between RUSD and the City of Racine and the building permit for the new school still needing approval.

Tapp said a new timeline for the school’s completion cannot be determined until construction begins.

According to Sean Ryan, City of Racine communications director, the city is responsible for issuing the building permit for the new school, and it does not require Common Council approval.

In August 2023, the RUSD Board approved a land transfer that included RUSD owning Franklin Park and the City of Racine owning Janes, Red Apple and Winslow schools. The City of Racine also will receive a parking lot near Janes Elementary and land near Julian Thomas Elementary.

The school district wants to own Franklin Park because it is next to the future Red Apple site.

The Common Council approved the transfer in July 2023.

According to Tapp, a certified survey map for the Julian Thomas property in the transfer needs to be completed. Once that is done, the certified survey map requires approval from the city Planning, Heritage and Design Commission before RUSD and the city can close the transfer.

When the transfer is finalized, “RUSD will receive the title for ownership of Franklin Park,” Tapp wrote in an email. “From there, the city will approve the building permit RUSD has submitted” for the new Red Apple school.

Tapp wrote that the school district and city met last week to try “to come to a mutual agreement and hope to be able to move the land swap agreement forward quickly.”

In a statement, Mayor Cory Mason said, “the city and the school district continue to have positive discussions to find a solution that works for both parties. I’m optimistic we can find a solution very soon.”

The RUSD Board’s May 20 meeting agenda initially included an update on the Red Apple project and a timeline regarding the transfer with the city, but that item was removed from the agenda.

The item was taken off the meeting agenda “to allow the district and city to finalize and move forward” on the transfer, according to Tapp.

Public concerns

During the public comment portion of the May 7 Common Council meeting, several people, including the Red Apple principal, expressed concerns about the new building’s timeline.

Nearly everyone is thrilled with the proposed design of the new K-8 school, but they are worried it will not open next fall.

Mary McIlvaine lives in the area and looks forward to having a school in the neighborhood again.

Walden III Middle School and High School was located at 1012 Center St. from 1975 to 2018. That building was demolished in 2021.

“Whatever it takes to get this school built, I would like to see that happen,” McIlvaine said. “When it doesn’t happen, it feels to me, as a neighborhood resident, like it doesn’t matter, that we are not that important. I’m sure it feels that way to the students and families at Red Apple.”

Joyce Gandy is the parent of a Red Apple student and plans for her child to attend the new school, so she wants clarity on the situation.

“If this does not happen, I have no other plans,” Gandy said. “We planned on staying here, and we hope that you guys will allow us to know what is going on sometime soon and if it’s going to continue.”

As initially planned, the current Red Apple school at 914 St. Patrick St. is scheduled to close in June 2025.

Madelyn Barranco has children who attend Red Apple, and she said it would be “a nice full-circle moment” for them to go to school at the same location where she graduated from Walden nearly two decades ago.

The new Red Apple design looks “amazing and gives the appearance of our education system moving into the future, a building that will age well and move Racine Unified forward for years to come,” Barranco said.

In February, the RUSD Board approved a guaranteed maximum price of $35.37 million for construction of the new Red Apple school, which will focus on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics education.

A groundbreaking at the new site occurred in April.

Barranco called it “a shame” that work on the new school seems to be delayed but said she “can’t wait to walk through those doors in the fall of 2025, and not a moment later.”

Gandy, too, hopes her child and classmates move into the “futuristic” building next fall.

“There’s so many great things that could come out of it,” Gandy said. “I just cannot understand why something like this would be stopped.”

Julie Mckenna, a former RUSD Board member, shared a similar sentiment.

“Please do whatever you can do to make this successful,” McKenna said. “We only have this chance once in a lifetime.”

McIlvaine said the uncertainty around the new building timeline is “not a good feeling.”

“It makes me feel like I cannot trust my units of government to work together,” McIlvaine said. “I really want to believe that people will come together around this and we will get this school built and have a tremendous enhancement to our neighborhood.”

Diana Valencia said community members are irritated in part because they don’t know all the reasons for the delay. She urged the city and school district to work together to keep the project on track.

“We the public, concerned about students’ education, are frustrated, placed in the dark and … very angry,” Valencia said.

After Valencia spoke, two Red Apple students said, “Build our school.”

Scott Campbell, Red Apple principal, called the school his “second home” and said he loves the staff, students, families and community.

He said the response to the school’s Facebook post about the initial design of the new K-8 building was enormous and overwhelmingly positive.

“I think, as elected officials, you guys will appreciate this approval rating,” Campbell said.

Campbell said more than 100 new families have enrolled at Red Apple for the 2024-25 school year partly “because of this excitement” about a new building.

“We really need to make this happen,” Campbell said. “This is our opportunity. We have this wonderful building hopefully being built that’s attracting people … I’m very excited about it, so please let us get this done.”