Rich Fortier leaving AV-W at the end of the school year

The board of education for the Arbor Vitae-Woodruff (AV-W) school district last week accepted the retirement notification from principal Rich Fortier. 

He gave his notice to district administrator Dr. Jocelyn Hardy in a two-sentence email earlier Monday.

“Please accept this correspondence as my notice of retirement from AV-W on June 30, 2026,” Fortier wrote. “I am forever indebted to AV-W for the opportunity to be here for the past 15 years. Thank you.”

Oneida County Youth in Governance Program student representatives met with Oneida County Clerk Tracy Hartman and Oneida County Circuit Court Judge Mary M. Sowinski during the Oneida County Courthouse Training day for OCYG program student representatives held Aug. 20 at the Oneida County Courthouse.
(Contributed photograph)

Early in the meeting, under the agenda item for the school board to address any resignations and appointments, Hardy, sitting to Fortier’s left, said there was one retiree. 

“He’s sitting to my right,” she said. “Mr. Fortier is retiring at the end of this school year.”

“Are you sure?” school board member Judi Nelson asked Fortier. 

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Fortier responded.

Hardy said the principal’s position would be posted “internally first” in accordance with the district’s hiring process. 

“I will bring back the next steps to the board meeting in October,” she said, adding that if necessary, there will be a posting of the AV-W principal’s position outside the district if necessary. 

“Well, I’m sure there will be plenty of conversations moving forward, Rich, but thanks for all you’ve given to this school,” school board member Randy Quade said. “Our community’s been better having you here.”

“Absolutely,” school board president Chris Thielman said. 

Nelson made the motion to accept Fortier’s retirement notification “with much appreciation” and Quade seconded and it was approved unanimously.

After the meeting, Fortier told The Lakeland Times after his time at AV-W is complete, he and his wife will be moving to Arizona to be near their daughter, Emily. 

While he will be retiring from the Wisconsin education system, he said he knows what his plans are moving forward.

“I’m going to continue my career the same way in Arizona,” the 56 year-old Fortier said. “As a principal or athletic director.”

He said he’s “in the beginning stages” of pursuing that career in the Arizona education system.

“I have a contact in Phoenix, a superintendent,” Fortier said. 

He said despite the announcement regarding his leaving AV-W was made just this week, “I’ve obviously known awhile” after his twin children graduated from Lakeland Union High School in 2023. Prior to going to AV-W Fortier was a teacher in the School Distirct of Rhinelander and served as head boys’ basketball coach at Rhinelander High School from 1996-2010.

“I was 54 at the time and I knew my time was getting close,” Fortier said. “I will have been here for 16 years, I taught for 18 years ... 34 years in education in Wisconsin. It’s a long time. I’ve been very fond recently of saying to my wife or really anybody, ‘If not now, when for me? I always talked about teaching or being a principal in a different state.”

For several years before he began his tenure at AV-W, he taught in the Rhinelander school district. 

Fortier’s daughter Emily lives in Chandler, a superb of Phoenix. 

“Even if I’m not in Phoenix, I can find a place in Flagstaff,” he said. “While I’m nervous, there’s not a lot of nervous. It’s more excitement. It really is. It’s a little adventure.”

As for his time at AV-W, Fortier said he will miss it. 

“You could make a cogent argument that I’m nuts for leaving this district,” he said. “I have the support of a very good board and always have.”

During his time at AV-W, Fortier worked with three different district administrators.

“This last one is as good as they get,” he said of Hardy. “The staff works incredibly hard. What I think I’ll miss the most is giving up the connections with the parents and knowing all I know now to help kids and support kids and I’m giving all that up willingly so again, one could say pretty unintelligent on my part.”

Fortier said his plans for Arizona are “a leap of faith.”

“There’s something out there for another act,” he said. “I’m not afraid. I’m embracing this.”

Brian Jopek may be reached via email at [email protected].