TOP NEWS STORIES OF 2020
2020 WAS ANOTHER EXTRAORDINARY YEAR WHICH SAW MANY IMPORTANT AND
UNUNUSAL NEWS EVENTS COME OUT OF THE MERCER SCHOOL DISTRICT. THESE INCLUDED:
·
Torkelson’s eight-year reign of mismanagement
and misspending comes to an end.
·
Covid-19 virus causes closing of Mercer School
to protect students and staff. Classes
resumed in the fall with a carefully thought-out Back to School Plan.
·
School Board election ends an era of a corrupt
board which failed the students and the community.
·
Torkelson’s original employment contract
reveals big mistakes and giveaways.
FOLLOWING ARE THESE NEWS STORIES AND MORE AND WHERE TO FIND
THEM:
TORKELSON IS OUT!!!
The day
many Mercer residents had hoped for arrived at 8:30 p.m. on Monday, June 22,
2020, when Mercer School Board President Bob Davis announced that Administrator
Erik Torkelson had resigned.
Torkelson’s eight-year reign of mismanagement and misspending ended after a one hour and twenty-five-minute closed session of the board. Details of the resignation were not announced except that Davis read a brief letter from Torkelson saying that he was resigning “for purposes of retirement”.
The separation agreement was subsequently made public which showed that Torkelson was bought out of his contract for $80,000. (6/22/20 and 8/7/20)
KOPKA IS IN AS
ADMINISTRATOR
The Mercer School
District has a new administrator – Sheri Lynn Kopka. She was given
the position at a July 13 special Mercer School Board meeting.
Kopka was named
interim administrator shortly after former administrator Erik Torkelson was
placed on medical leave in June 2019. Torkelson remained on medical
leave until this last June 22 when he resigned “for purposes of retirement”. He
probably would have been fired anyway because the new board appeared to be
looking for ways to terminate him. (7/15/20)
* * *
WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH GET GOING
Mercer School Administrator Sheri Kopka and
the present School Board have shown that they have what it takes to confront
even the most difficult of situations. They have taken bold actions
regarding the dangers facing all of us by the Covid-19 (Coronavirus)
epidemic.
Even before Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers
ordered the closing of all schools in the state, Kopka announced that the
Mercer School would be closed as the students came back off a one-week spring
break beginning on Monday, March 16, through Monday, April 6. It now
appears that the school closing may be extended even beyond that April 6 date.
Kopka and her staff
were quick to “move forward with plans and processes that will facilitate the
continuing education process for our students,” said School Board President Bob
Davis in an open letter to “students, parents and community members of Mercer”.
A sound plan for
resume school in the fall was subsequently enacted. (3/19/20 and 8/28/20)
* * *
GREAT NEWS FOR THE MERCER
KIDS AND THE COMMUNITY
Mercer voters made the right choices in
Tuesday School Board election by returning Sue Loth and Jeff Nehring to their
board seats and soundly rejecting Deanna Pierpont. The voters also
elected Henry Joustra.
Loth and Nehring will serve three-year
terms by getting the most votes and Joustra will serve a one-year term as the
third-place vote-getter. Along with Pierpont, voters also rejected Brian Baltz.
The defeat of Pierpont is good news for
Mercer in that it marks an end to the clique controlled by former Administrator
Erik Torkelson. The Torkelson gang consisted of his mother-in-law
Kelly Kohegyi, Denise Thompson, Micki Pierce-Holmstrom and Noel
Brandt. Kohegyi and Thompson were voted off the board in earlier
elections. Brandt resigned when he moved away, and Pierce-Holmstrom
chose not to seek re-election in this April’s
election. Pierpont chose not to run for re-election when
her term expired in April 2019, but then attempted a come-back this year. (4/13/20 and 1/9/20)
* * *
In a seemingly bold but much needed action,
the Mercer School District’s new administrator, Sheri Kopka, is seeking parent
and community feedback by way of a comprehensive survey. “Seemingly
bold” because the former administrator, Erik Torkelson, would have never
allowed such well-meaning input.
Much like the Strategic Planning Committee Kopka has formed, the thought of a
parent and community survey indicates a dramatic positive change from the
earlier denial of parent and community involvement in school affairs. (5/7/20)
* * *
THE
GENESIS OF A BIG MISTAKE
This
interest has been prompted by the new Mercer School Board’s apparent attempt to
terminate Torkelson, who has been on medical leave since last
June. Since then, the board has delved into the school’s financial
and academic records, apparently leading to the realization that Torkelson must
not be allowed back in the school.
The board
named as an interim administrator, Sheri Kopka, to help correct many of the
wrongs created during Torkelson’s eight-year reign of
mismanagement. And they have been making progress. (6/4/20 also see Part 2 -
6/11/20 and Part 3 - 6/19/20)
* * *
Such an
act occurred in Mercer on Sunday, May 24, when deposed Mercer School
Administrator Erik Torkelson presided over a mock graduation ceremony for 12 of
Mercer’s 14 graduates. His help included his mother-in-law, Kelly
Kohegyi, and long-time supporter, Deanna Pierpont, both former Mercer School
Board presidents.
The
ceremony was held in a large, rented party tent erected at the Kohegyi gravel
pit. As near as could be determined from pictures of the event,
about 50 people attended, and WITHOUT ANY SOCIAL DISTANCING AND WITHOUT FACE
MASKS. In addition to the graduates and some parents, four teachers attended. (5/27/20)
Nothing has changed. I haven't seen any positive changes that directly help the kids. All this hype around the new Administrator and school board members (its been almost a year and a half with four out of five members in the role) created nothing but longer meetings. Where's the results? Adding Joustra is just an empty seat (all talk and just excuses). No wonder parents are yanking kids out of Mercer after middle school. I know where Im sending my kids.
ReplyDeleteThe Board hides it head as to what is happening there. Where is discussion about low numbers and even worse low numbers next year. How many kids are in a class— do we hire people full time if they have 2-3 kids in a class, teachers that do not even come to class or always arrive late and leave early are their contracts renewed? Some classes literally have one or two students. Why are students left with no teacher to supervise them, many times not even in the building, which happens often. At least Mr. Joustra has asked about this. Should the school be a k-6 school? Do you even have the numbers for that- combine grades?
ReplyDeleteLots of serious issues— stop talking to hear yourself talk about paperwoek and look into this and do something about it. The school is bleeding and a bandaid won’t work anymore.