Artus appointed to school board

The School District of Rhinelander’s board of education is back to full strength with the appointment Monday evening of Doug Artus to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of David Holperin on May 28.

Artus was one of four candidates for the position. Former Three Lakes School District special education director Deb Straus and former City of Rhinelander aldermen Joe Salzer and Bill Freudenberg also applied for the position.  

After the existing board members conducted a question-and-answer session, Artus prevailed with four votes.

Straus and Salzer received one vote each. Board members Mike Roberts and Judy Conlin were not present for the meeting and thus did not vote.

The appointment process began with the candidates explaining their interest in serving on the board.

Straus stated that she worked for the Three Lakes School District for approximately 30 years and has a significant knowledge base with respect to the myriad issues facing local school districts including “operational and financial stewardship.”

“I have a lot of background knowledge in board meetings, what benefits a school district, the importance of parents, community members,” she said, 

“Our future lies with the effectiveness and the success of our students,” she added. “That’s our future. That’s who’s going to be running the next school board. Our community is watching us. They want us to be successful. We want to be successful for them.”

Salzer noted that he serves on the Nicolet College Board of Trustees and thus could be a liaison of sorts between the two boards.

“I would hope to be an asset for collaboration for the district and the tech college to be able to work closer together for the larger goal of student success,” he said, adding that he also serves as educational liaison for Ponsse North America.

Salzer told the board members that a friend’s response to learning that he had put his name forward to potentially serve on the board was “what’s your agenda?”

After thinking about it, Salzer said his agenda is “that I hope to be an advocate for fiscal responsibility, not just in being fiscally responsible but in demonstrating fiscal responsibility. Everybody know that it’s not only a matter of doing things right, it’s making sure that you’re seen doing things right. The public needs to be aware that we are good stewards of the public money. But the biggest thing that I would hope to accomplish is I would want to contribute to student success...”

Freudenberg noted his past service on the City Council and Oneida County Board and stressed he has been a “a huge advocate for the schools” for many years and has a passion for community service.

Artus told the group he lived in Illinois when he was young but his family always had a cabin in Pelican Lake. He said he moved to the Rhinelander area after graduating from Elcho High School and has three children enrolled in the district. He is employed by Enterprise Wood Products and also flies planes for the Department of Natural Resources, he added.

Artus said he learned about the board vacancy following a recent visit to Central School.

“I got the email as a parent just saying that there was a board opening and I recently did Olympic Day with my young one at Central School and he was really proud that I came to school and was helping at his school and so when I got that (email) I was like “you know, I can get more involved by coming to this and putting my name in the hat.”

When board member Merlin Van Buren asked if any of the candidates had any conflicts of interest, Salzer noted his wife is a teacher at Crescent Elementary.

The candidates were also asked if they intend to run for election to the board next spring and they all answered in the affirmative.

The current board members also communicated to the candidates that school board members “have no individual power” and it has been the policy of the board not to “micro-manage” district administrators.

“We have an excellent administrative staff, very good teachers and that’s why we hire these people to run it,” explained board member Duane Frey. “We set policy, give direction, but you’re one of nine...”

“Feel free to give your opinion but you’re one of nine of us,” he added.

After the votes were counted, Artus was immediately sworn in and participated in the rest of the meeting.

Tech ed project update

In other business, the board voted unanimously to award the sale of $26 million in general obligation loans to finance the construction costs for the facility improvements approved by the taxpayers in April. 

Additions and renovations will be made to both James Williams Middle School and Rhinelander High School in an effort to modernize the district’s technical education curriculum.

Prior to the board vote, the district’s financial advisor, Jeff Seeley of Ehlers Public Finance Advisors, noted eight bids had been received and Morgan Stanley of New York put forth the most advantageous. The estimated net increase in the tax mill rate as a result of this sale is .23, Seeley noted. Prior to the vote, the estimated net increase in tax mill rate was .29, meaning that the district taxpayers will see less of an impact on their tax bills. Instead of $29 per 100,000 of equalized market value, the project will cost the taxpayers $23 per 100,000 of equalized market value.

“This is very good news,” board president Ron Counter said. “We move forward on our project.”

Heather Schaefer may be reached at [email protected].