Former Wisconsin superintendent offered to pay back some money

article

GLENWOOD TOWNSHIP, Wisconsin (FOX 9) – In January, while former Wisconsin Superintendent Tim Johnson was under investigation for allegedly defrauding the Glenwood City School District, he made the school district an offer through his attorney: Johnson would reimburse $44,000 if the school district would refused to cooperate with authorities.

The school district declined the settlement.

On Friday, 10 months later, the St. Croix County District Attorney charged Johnson with 17 criminal counts ranging from theft, money laundering, forgery and misconduct in public office involving $290,000.

Johnson, 52, who resigned as superintendent in May 2023, allegedly falsified 15 Viterbo University receipts from 2013 to 2021, receiving $75,000 in reimbursements from the district for classes he did not take while accepting a scholarship $25,000 per year for graduate work. totaling US$125,000 in the same period.

READ MORE: Former Wisconsin superintendent accused of stealing $250,000 from district

Johnson’s offer to reimburse the district is outlined in a series of reports from Glenwood City Police Chief Joel Klatt that were incorporated into Friday’s criminal complaint against Johnson.

In two letters to Johnson, dated December 6, 2023, and January 1, 2024, the district’s new superintendent, Patrick Olson, asked Johnson to release his Viterbo University transcript under the Education Rights and Privacy Act of the Family (FERPA). Otherwise, Olson wrote, the school district would turn the matter over to law enforcement.

The Glenwood City Police Department eventually obtained Johnson’s school records through a search warrant issued at Viterbo University.

Five days before the district’s Jan. 12 deadline to release his transcript, Johnson’s criminal defense attorney, Tracey Wood, sent a letter to the district informing them that Johnson had placed $44,000 in a trust fund, which Johnson would be willing to deliver to the district.

But there was a problem. The attorney said the school district would need to agree that “any complaints involving employment issues will be considered resolved, and the district will not pursue any action, whether civil or criminal, and will not provide assistance in any potential civil or criminal action.”

According to the report, the letter went on to state, “We would also like a privacy clause so that nothing is shared by the district whether (sic) staff or board members.”

The Glenwood City School Board briefly considered accepting the offer but ultimately rejected it, according to police reports and district officials.

On Jan. 25, attorney Tracey Wood once again contacted the district on Johnson’s behalf, now offering to donate $43,760 to the district for free with the stipulation that the district not cooperate with law enforcement, Chief Klatt wrote.

In March, Chief Klatt was informed that Johnson’s attorney had given the school a check for $43,000 with an explanation of the amount.

“Some of the numbers match the refunds paid to Johnson and some do not,” Chief Klatt wrote in his report. “The school decided not to cash the check at the time of this report,” he added.

In addition to allegedly submitting fraudulent receipts from Viterbo University while receiving a continuing education grant for classes he never took, Jonson is also accused of receiving $38,462 for a special education administrator position for which he was not licensed and $51,000 into “alternative benefits” to which he was not entitled.

In February, Chief Klatt received a request directly from Tracey Wood, Johnson’s attorney: that Johnson not be arrested if charges were filed, but rather that a summons be ordered.

Johnson was charged by summons on Friday. His first court appearance is scheduled for November 21.

Since the charges were filed late Friday afternoon, FOX 9 has reached out to Johnson and his attorney for comment and has not received responses.