Over a 40 year career in journalism, I think people often wonder why I push so hard. Why do I want more information? Why do I like details? Why do I need to know names, dates, times?
Why am I making a public records request for documents, audits and emails? Why am I making that request again, after I believe it’s been improperly rejected.
Why do I keep asking questions?
Why do I sometimes seem skeptical, even suspicious?
Why? Why? Why?
Not infrequently I’ve asked myself a more basic question: Am I the asshole?
Or, am I still the guy just asking questions?
Sometimes I need a reminder of why I am so persistent.
I got that last week, as a story I investigated on and off for a couple of years came to its end in a Wisconsin courtroom. It was the kind of satisfying conclusion that still makes journalism rewarding.
In 2023, when I was transitioning from working in Minneapolis to living in Mariposa, I began looking into a school superintendent in Glenwood City, Wis. (Population: 1,247).
A parent and former substitute teacher, Amy Dopkins, had reached out to me with some legitimate concerns. Dopkins, you should know, is the kind of parent who watches her local school board closely and catches little details that slip by most of us.
On a school board agenda she saw a minor item that the district was reimbursing the superintendent, Tim Johnson, for some continuing education classes he was taking at a nearby university.
But Dopkins recalled that Johnson’s contract already included a $25,000 bonus/stipend for continuing education, bringing his total compensation package to $216,000.
Dopkins wondered why the school district was paying twice — with a stipend and reimbursements — for the same thing, namely Johnson’s continuing education.
When I called up Johnson, he told me I was being mislead by a disgruntled parent on some kind of vendetta. He called it a “witch hunt,” and said he was done talking about it as he hung up the phone.
In fact, we were just getting started.
I made a public records request to the school district for the receipts Johnson submitted from the university for reimbursement.
Those receipts looked different compared to other billing from the university. The lines and columns didn’t line up. It looked like a bad cut and paste job.
Whats more, the classes listed on the receipts didn’t match any that were being offered for that semester. In some cases, the classes didn’t even seem to exist.
I called up the university and got someone in the registrars office, who in a lapse of honest, told me it wasn’t one of their receipts and, furthermore, Johnson, hadn’t attended the university in a decade.
(The university clammed up soon enough, but I was able to corroborate other details through a national data base of degrees.)
My reporting showed that Johnson had forged documents for continuing education classes he never took. The school district had reimbursed Johnson for $75,000 in continuing education based on sketchy receipts, while he simultaneously collected $125,000 in stipends for continuing education.
He didn’t have a single degree or certificate to show for it.
Even at this point, Johnson had his ardent defenders, including the president of the school board, Lisa Kaiser, who told me I was being extremely unfair to a good man and an outstanding superintendent. Kaiser told me she had seen Johnson’s educational transcript and looked into all the allegations. He was totally innocent. Nothing to see here.
Another school board member, Nicole Miller, wasn’t convinced. Miller had raised her own suspicions and found herself isolated by the other school board members. She resigned in protest.
In May 2023, as I was working on the story, Johnson abruptly offered his resignation and got a job in another school district.
He said it was time for him “to start a new professional journey and challenge.”
Oddly enough, that “new professional journey” came with a $63,000 pay cut, less stature and in a town 50 miles away from his home. Johnson was apparently hoping to leave his troubles behind.
But the incoming Glenwood City School Superintendent, Patrick Olson, wasn’t the type to cover up for anyone. Given the serious allegations, he ordered a full forensic audit and investigation.
As expected, the district’s financial audit found systemic fraud and forgery on Johnson’s part.
The forensic audit found Johnson owed the district $311,000.
The local district attorney, who was never enthusiastic about the case when I called, was now forced to take action.
Johnson was charged with 17 felonies related to fraud, forgery and misconduct in public office.
In a very charitable plea deal, Johnson was able to plead guilty or no contest to six of the 17 felony counts against him. He pleaded guilty to forgery and misconduct in office.
At Johnson’s sentencing last week, a Wisconsin judge ordered Johnson to repay the district $222,515 in restitution.
It still wasn’t everything he stole. The district’s insurance had already covered the other losses.
The judge stayed a three year prison sentence, placing Johnson on probation for the next four years.
The sentence includes eight months in the county jail to be served in two month stints over the next four years. He must report to jail for his first stint in the next 30 days.
For a man who defrauded a low income school district, it hardly seems like enough time.
But there were consequences. And sometimes that’s the best you can hope for. It is also an important step in restoring public trust.
As for Amy Dopkins, the parent who started the whole odyssey, she was elected earlier this month to the Glenwood City School District. Miller, the school board member who resigned in protest, was reelected.
Kaiser, the school board president who supported the criminal superintendent, finished dead last in the election.
I think the story speaks to why questions are inherently, almost always, good. Questions restore public trust. Questions, often, deserve answers.
Johnson told the court his crimes were a one-time occurrence. He blames depression and the isolation of becoming a superintendent, since he was such “a people person.”
The man who stole from children still sees himself as the victim.
I’m sure he blames me too. The pesky reporter who wouldn’t take no for an answer. And I’m okay with that.
That doesn’t mean I’m the asshole.
It means I’m doing my job.
Tom Lyden is a staff writer for the Mariposa Gazette and can be reached at tom@mariposagazette.com.
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