Former Glenwood City School District Administrator Accused of Embezzling Nearly $300,000 in School District Funds

GLENWOOD CITY, Wis. (WEAU) – A school district in St. Croix County has released an audit of its former superintendent.

The report, by forensic accounting firm Intellex Forensics, included allegations against former Glenwood City School District Administrator Tim Johnson.

He is accused of stealing $290,792 in school district funds over a ten-year period.

In January, we told you about Johnson's resignation as human resources director for the Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District.

CFAUSD cited the GCSD's investigation into Johnson as the reason for his previous leave of absence.

Johnson served as superintendent of GCSD from 2014 to 2023.

An investigation into his salary for 2020 and 2021 following a report by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction led to his resignation in June 2023.

Intellex began investigating some of the money Johnson received during his ten years as superintendent.

It is alleged that Johnson received $125,000 in educational grants, which the report says Johnson approved himself, and it is also alleged that Johnson received $75,515 in reimbursements, all of which were for graduate courses that the report says Johnson took at Viterbo University.

The report says Johnson has not completed any of the courses he claims to have taken between the 2013-2014 and 2022-2023 school years for which he received funding.

Johnson is accused of having ordered the payment of the money himself.

The report also names Glenwood City School District accountant Ron Johnson, who is not related to Tim, as also approving some of these funds.

Another part of the report said Tim Johnson claimed $38,462 in performance-based pay for his work as director of special education. Auditors said Tim did not have the qualifications to claim that title.

According to the report, Tim also received $51,815.

Both he and Ron were also accused of embezzling $349,650 in funds intended for school district investments. The audit found that the funds, which went into the “Packerland Portfolios” managed by Tim Obermueller, did not comply with Wisconsin State Law 66.0603.

A GCSD press release said the review was completed in June, and Tim Johnson attempted to block its publication with a temporary restraining order.

The Chippewa Falls School District issued a statement saying that Tim Johnson did not accept any money from the district during his brief time as human resources director.

No charges have been filed at this time, but Patrick Olson, the current administrator of the Glenwood City School District, told WEAU that he expects charges to be filed soon.

WEAU reached out to the St. Croix District Attorney to find out when this would happen, but has not received a response.

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