The district has an enrollment of approximately 11,500 and an annual budget of $145 million. The district's graduation rate was 92.4 percent during the 2012-2013 school year.[4] The ECASD ranks third in the state of Wisconsin for the number of educators who have achieved National Board Certification through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.[5]
By the early 1850s, about 100 European settlers called Eau Claire home. In 1856, a group of parents built the first public school in Eau Claire. Built out of rough boards, it was located on what is now Barstow Street. During the winter of 1856-57 the school was opened to the public, with John E. Stillman as the first teacher.[6] Large numbers of German and Norwegian immigrants arrived in the 1860s.
Until 1889, there were three school systems in the city of Eau Claire. Each had its own school governance and high school. The Eau Claire Area School District became united in July 1889 by an act of the Wisconsin Legislature.[7] During consolidation in the early 1960s, rural areas and their schools were added to the district. In 1982, the Board of Education voted to become a unified school district.[8] ECASD is a part of Cooperative Educational Service Agency (CESA) 10.
The seven-member Eau Claire Area School District Board of Education is the policy-making body responsible for selecting the superintendent and overseeing the district's budget, strategic planning, policy, operations, curriculum, personnel, and facilities.[9] Board commissioners are elected at-large for three-year terms. Two high school students serve as non-voting student representatives to the Board of Education.[10]
The Eau Claire Area School District receives additional financial support from the Eau Claire Public Schools Foundation, a separate 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2008 that solicits charitable donations gifted from community members and businesses.[11]
Prairie Ridge Early Learning School (Head Start and Special Education Program)
In addition to Prairie Ridge, the Eau Claire Area School District currently has 21 community partnership sites for its Eau Claire 4 Tomorrow (EC4T) program.
