Former Glenwood City Schools Superintendent being investigated by three different agencies
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By Renee Bettendorf
GLENWOOD CITY- During the open forum part of the Glenwood City school board meeting held on Monday evening district resident Amy Dopkins asked the board if St. Croix County was still handling the investigation involving former district administrator Tim Johnson or if the investigation had been moved up to the state level.
District Administrator Patrick Olson told Dopkins that the board does not answer questions during a public forum. He went on to say that Dopkins could contact him later and he would give her as much information as possible.
The Tribune called Olson on Tuesday morning and was informed by him that the investigation involving Johnson is being looked at by St. Croix County, the state of Wisconsin and the FBI.
“It’s being investigated on all levels,” said Olson.
A presentation of the forensic audit is tentatively scheduled for July 24 at 6 p.m. at the Glenwood City community center, according to Olson. At that meeting Intellex Forensics will present the forensic audit.
A number of new staff members were approved by the board as new hires. Jarrod Kuehn was approved for a newly created technology and engineering teaching position, Allison Brunett as a fifth grade teacher, Logan Johnson as a middle school social studies teacher, Jayson Oratch as a high school science teacher and Tracy Marback as an elementary special education teacher.
Erin Davis, who had a part time position for Hilltopper Hangtime will move to a full time position within the program. Leah Bartz was approved as a childcare worker for the Tiny Tots program. Tasha Ziegler and Jennifer Newgard were approved by the board for paraprofessional positions.
Additionally, Jacob Maes was approved as the new JV volleyball coach and Sarah Kaiser as the new middle school volleyball coach.
The board also approved several resignations including Board Member Chuckie DeSmith. In his letter of resignation, DeSmith said changes in his work schedule would require him to miss too many board meetings.
“I want to say thank you to Chuckie for his service to the district,” said Olson.
During their closed session the board approved the retirement of District Accountant Ron Johnson. They approved Deb Newman as the Interim District Accountant. According to the agenda, Newman is a retired district accountant with over 20 years of experience.
Also among those resigning from positions in the district were Kirsten Konder as head girls basketball coach and Jake Score as middle school girls basketball coach as well as Michael Grotzer as custodian and DeAnna Wronski and Eva Groth as special education teachers.
Soon-to-retire Elementary School Principal Betsy Haltinner gave her final report to the board. She gave an update on various end of the school year and summer activities that have occurred at the elementary school. She also thanked all the staff who helped out with several summer programs. The board thanked her for her service and wished her well on her retirement.
“Enjoy your retirement,” said Board President Dr. Lisa Kaiser.
During the work session portion of the meeting, Olson brought up the fact that the district has at least 10 different Hilltopper logos. He took pictures of all the logos and put them on the online agenda.
“I would personally like to update the logo, but that’s a six month process,” said Olson.
He recommends that at some point the board should go through a marketing logo adoption process so that the district has a consistent logo.
Another topic of discussion was the annual athletic poster. Olson would like to narrow down the school’s marketing strategy. He pointed out that sponsorships are a big thing and local businesses get asked often to do that.
The Tribune Press Reporter has been putting together an athletic poster since 1982 and the school also makes one and now a third party would also like to make one. Olson said that because there are multiple posters it makes businesses have to choose which one to sponsor.
Olson would like to see students use graphic design classes to design the posters and have the Tribune print them. And have everyone work together to create one poster, saying that multiple posters creates “fundraising fatigue”. The board agreed.
Olson also updated the board on the various summer construction projects. The new front sign has been installed and has the capability to display pictures. One panel on the sign is not working properly and a technician is coming this week to fix it, said Olson.
The new gym floor is being installed and they were able to salvage the Hilltopper logo that was in the middle.
Board Treasurer Sally Standaert asked if there have been any issues with the projects. Olson said there was a pillar in the weightroom that was deteriorating and an engineer had to be brought in to rectify the situation, but other than that there have been no major hiccups.
“Things are coming along nicely,” said Olson.
Board Member Tony Mielzarek asked how all the roofs are holding up with all the recent rain. Olson said the roofs are doing much better although they did find a small hole in one of the roofs that had been patched with a pencil.
The basketball club will start deconstruction of the old playground equipment. The club will take apart all the wooden structures. Installation of the new equipment, which cost $263,250 will begin on August 1, according to Olson.
Olson wanted to provide an outline of the 2023/2024 budget but was unable to because he doesn’t have one yet.
“Because of recent events, we have quite a bit going on in that area. I can tell you that we are working diligently to close out the year,” he said.
He went on to say that they did get payroll completed, which was a major task. The budget is “sporadic, very erratic” he said. He went on to say that there’s not much he can present about the budget at this time.
In other business, the Glenwood City School Board:
• Discussed better ways to update the district employee handbook.
• Learned from Olson that the district was awarded a Safe Routes to Schools grant.
• Moved the Title 1 meeting from the spring to the fall.
• Heard from District Resident Nicole Miller that she is thankful that Olson was able to split the incoming third grade class into three sections instead of two.
•Approved a number of purchases for the new weight room.
