News of shift of funds, uplifting presentations highlight SDR board of education meeting

The School District of Rhinelander’s removal of $1.3 million from the district’s fund balance headlined this month’s board of education meeting on Monday, Jan. 19.

Bob Thom, the district’s director of business services, shared the news with the board in his review of the December budget status report.

“This is for our school audit,” he explained. “The audit was done over the summer [by Lauterbach & Amen, LLP], supposed to be all done by September when we submitted all the reports to the state, but on Dec. 15 the auditor sent us an email and said, ‘Hey, by the way, I’m going to move $1.3 million from your fund balance into your health insurance fund balance and just wanted you to sign off on that,’ and we’re like, ‘Wait a minute, I don’t want to sign off on that, what are you doing?’”

With the school district of Rhinelander having become self-insured a little over a year ago, though, he learned the auditor’s move of the funds is in case of health insurance liabilities, preventing that money from being spent out of the general fund balance.

“We couldn’t argue too much about it, but the important part is, it’s not money we spent,” Thom emphasized. “The money’s not gone ... it just got shifted to a different account, so it’s going to look funky on our books.

“I did nail him down that this coming June 30, if we’re in a good position, he would consider reversing it and putting the money back in the fund. So that’s kind of where we’re at with that.”

“I felt better after talking with them,” noted district superintendent Eric Burke. “It’s a bookkeeping thing more than a standard of auditing ... as we move along on being self-insured, that money’s going to come back.”

Also at the meeting, two new hires, a retirement, and a resignation were approved after a closed session.

Hired for the 2025-26 school year at Crescent Elementary were Karlee Dennis, a rotating teacher ($52,900, prorated), and Tiffany Papapetru, special education ($47,500, prorated).

Effective at the end of the 2025-26 school year will be the retirement of Rhinelander High School social studies teacher Michael “M.J.” Laggis and the resignation of Paula Norman, library media specialist at NCES/Crescent.

RHS activities director Brian Paulson told the River News Wednesday that Laggis’s retirement will not affect his status as head coach for the Hodag cross country and boys’ hockey teams.

The meeting also saw a trio of uplifting presentations, on the successes of Central Elementary School (delivered by principal Amanda Olson, dean of students Tyler Johnson, 5th grade teacher Lindsey Casper, instructional coach Jenny Prom, and 5th grade students Harper Marten, Grace Raduechel, and Jace White), the Hodag Expanded Program (with Richard Gretzinger, director of learning support, introducing middle-school lead teacher Jeff Rauworth and elementary-school special education teachers Amanda Beuning, who recently obtained National Board Certification, and Kelci Seaman), and CESA 9’s Excellence in Education program (presented by Merlin Van Buren, the Board’s representative to CESA 9, who reported that 86 percent of the teachers who earned their licenses in the last five years through the program, which helps individuals with bachelor degrees in something other than education, are still teaching).

Among other highlights of the meeting, the Board also:

- Approved this year’s summer school proposals, in which the elementary, middle school, and RHS summer schools will each meet from June 8-July 2;

- Approved the proposed 2026-27 school year calendar, with graduation to be held on Friday, May 28, 2027; and 

- Approved the 2026-27 Public School Open Enrollment Determination of Availability, in which the SDR will approve or deny 2026-27 regular education student open enrollment applications pursuant to state requirements and based on the criteria outlined in the District’s Open Enrollment Program #5113, and will deny any open enrollment applications for the 2026-27 school year for students requiring special education programming or services due to zero spaces available in  early childhood special education, elementary cross-categorical special education, middle school cross-categorical special education, high school cross-categorical special education, deaf and hard of hearing, visually impaired, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech and language pathology.

The next regular monthly meeting of the SDR board of education will be on Monday Feb. 16, at 6 p.m. in the Superior Diesel Advanced Learning Center at Rhinelander High School.

Ardith Carlton may be reached at [email protected].