GC school board accepts two checks from Johnson
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By Renee Bettendorf
GLENWOOD CITY — In their board work session and regular board meetings which spanned more than three hours on Monday evening, the Glenwood City school board voted to accept two restitution checks from Tim Johnson, learned about upcoming court proceedings involving Johnson and heard from two district residents about how Johnnson’s criminal activity has impacted them.
The checks totaled about $75,000. One of the checks which amounted to $43,760 was received by the district in January and came from the law office Tracey Wood and Associates. Enclosed with the check was a letter from the office stating that the money was reimbursement for classes from Viterbo University that Johnson submitted receipts for between March 2017 and December 2020.
The second check was received by the district in September and was mailed to the district by another law office. That check was for $31,755 and was written out by Tammy Johnson. The money from the checks will be placed in the 2024/2025 budget.
Board vice president Chuck Draxler wondered if the acceptance of the checks would lower any possible insurance indemnity money the district may receive because of the fraud.
“I can see an insurance company arguing that it should be,” said Draxler.
Olson said it’s going to depend on the final amount of the fraud. According to Olson, Johnson is claiming that $125,000 was owed to him for stipends. Olson does not believe he was owed that money and is working with the districts’ lawyer and the insurance company, but noted that it may take some time to come to an agreement on the exact amount of money Johnson stole.
Olson updated the board on the State of WI vs. Tim Johnson victim statement document that was recently sent to the district by the St. Croix County district attorney. The document lists the various felonies that Johnson has been charged with and states that he is scheduled for an initial appearance in St. Croix County Circuit Court on November 21.
“This is my first experience with a victim statement,” said Olson.
The document states that “as the victim representative of this crime, you have the right to be notified of all scheduled court proceedings in this case.” The document goes on to say that the district has “the right to speak with the prosecutor regarding the prosecution of this case, possible outcomes, including potential plea agreements, and sentencing recommendations.”
Also included in the document are two forms. One is a request to exercise victims’ rights and asks if the district would like to be notified of court proceedings, if they would like to attend court proceedings, if they want information concerning the deposition of the case and if they want the opportunity to confer with the prosecutor.
The board directed Olson to answer yes to all of the questions on the form.
The other form is a restitution request which will help the district attorney in determining the amount of restitution to be paid to the district for losses as a result of a crime.
“I have 15 days to submit this document,” said Olson, who noted that he is working with the districts’ lawyer and other staff to determine the amount of loss that the district sustained due to Johnon’s illegal activity.
“I’m working on the appropriate costs,” said Olson of the restitution form.
District residents Amy Dopkins and Nicole Miller, who were the first to suspect Johnson of fraud, both spoke at the meeting.
Dopkins asked if district residents had a right to write a victim impact statement. She said that taxpayers in the district were impacted by Johnson’s actions.
“A Lot of us have been impacted…by what Tim Johnson has done,” said Dopkins.
Dopkins thanked Olson and district accountant Deb Newman for their work on bringing Johnson to justice.
“Thanks for being willing to take this on, it’s been quite a show,” she said.
Dopkins went on to speak about the board meeting where Johnson resigned and the discussion the board had about trust at that meeting. She said she trusts Olson and Newman but does not trust the board and pointed out that several community members have asked the board to resign.
Board members that were present at the May 22, 2023 meeting where Johnson tendered his resignation were: Lisa Kaiser, Chuck Draxler, Sally Standaert, Jodi Main, Chuckie DeSmith, Nicole Miller and Steve Davis. DeSmith and Miller are no longer on the board.
“I’m wondering why you are still here,” said Dopkins to the board. “If you are really trying to gain the community’s trust…it would go a long way if all of you showed up on the 21st in that courtroom for that hearing,” she said, of Johnson’s upcoming initial court appearance.
Dopkins spoke about the lies that Johnson told the board and her struggles in bringing her concerns about his, at that time, alleged, fraud to the board.
Miller told the board that she has filed several complaints to the Wisconsin Association of School Boards (WASB) in regards to her difficulties in getting her requests for records met and lack of support from the board when she was on it.
Miller got emotional and said that she feels dehumanized and that the school board does not represent her children, everyone makes mistakes, every kid deserves a chance and she has thought about pulling her children out of the district.
Budget and Levy
The board approved the 2024/2025 budget and levy. At the annual meeting and budget hearing held last month the levy was approved at 7.3 but it is now at 7.8. Olson said there were a few reasons for the increase in the levy.
Olson cited three main reasons why the levy went up. For one, the district has 11 less students since last January. Additionally, changes at the state level with other districts and increased valuation in the county also contributed to the increase.
Olson thanked Newman and Brian Johnston for their help with the budget. He said the budget was a major undertaking.
“We really kinda started from scratch,” said Olson.
The board unanimously approved the budget and levy.
Board Audit and Board Survey
Olson asked the board if they would be interested in doing a monthly board audit where board members could request documentation of monthly bills for review. The district accountant will provide board members with the requested documentation and field any questions that arise from board members prior to the meeting.
During the audit, two board members per month would be assigned to request invoices or superintendent and district accountant reimbursement for review prior to board meetings. He also asked the board if they would fill out surveys about their meetings with the results shared publicly at the following meeting.
The board approved the monthly audit plan and voted to revisit the board survey idea at their next work session.
In other business the Glenwood City school board:
• Learned from Olson that school board meetings will now be broadcast on the school’s Youtube channel instead of on Google Meet.
• Heard from Olson that local resident Joe Draxler will lead a fundraising effort to restore some state championship signs.
• Learned from Olson that the new projector is being installed in the gymatorium and should be ready to use for the Veterans Day program.
• Approved a 4% base pay wage increase for all district staff.
• Heard from director of student services Erin Spaeth that first aid and CPR classes were completed by staff, the Food Backpack Program has started in conjunction with WESTCAP and a flu vaccination clinic is scheduled for later this week.
• Learned from elementary school principal Jamie Shaffer that her staff is working on core standards and Fastbridge assessments.
• Heard from middle/high school principal Marcy Burch that last years’ pre-ACT scores were the second highest in the area.
• Voted to remove all district funds from Edward Jones and Morgan Stanley and move them to the Local Government Investment Pool.
• Voted to increase three of paraeducators positions from part-time to full-time status.
• Tabled approving reimbursement to coaches who were unable to coach during the Covid-19 lockdown.
• Approved a second reading of Title IX policy.
• Approved a fitness center process/procedures policy.
