Whitewater school board member meets with Wintz supporters

By Kim McDarison

Supporters of recently retired Whitewater High School shop teacher Mike Wintz met Tuesday with Wintz and Whitewater Unified School District Board of Education member Joe Kromholz.

The meeting, which was held at the Home Lumber store in Whitewater, was organized by the store’s owner, Geoff Hale, for the purpose of discussing the school board’s process and any future employment options available to Wintz, both Hale and Kromholz said during the meeting. Wintz submitted his notice of retirement to the district on Dec. 13. Wintz and his supporters said during the meeting that although Wintz submitted the letter, he had not actively been seeking an opportunity to retire. 

The meeting, which lasted about 90 minutes, was attended by some 15 supporters, including two Whitewater High School students, and several former educators, many of whom said they had worked with Wintz over the course of their careers. Two supporters — both former Whitewater educators — joined the meeting remotely. 

During the meeting, Wintz said he submitted his notice of retirement after the district investigated him, following an accident involving a student which occurred late last year in one of the high school’s three tech-ed shops. At the time of the incident, the area was under Wintz’s supervision. 

At the conclusion of the investigation, Wintz said, he was offered three options on behalf of the district by Superintendent Caroline Pate-Hefty. They included appearing before the board for a hearing in closed session, appearing before the board for a hearing in open session or submitting a letter of resignation or retirement. 

Wintz said he chose what he thought was the “least evil of my choices” and submitted his letter of retirement, ending prematurely, Wintz and his supporters have said, a 27-year teaching career.  

During the informal meeting, which was conducted as a discussion, Wintz said when he was confronted with the choices, he was concerned that, would the board opt to terminate his employment, he would lose his health benefits. The retirement option offered an opportunity to preserve them, he said. 

Addressing attendees on Tuesday, Kromholz said he had come to the meeting with the intention of listening to supporters and describing the district’s process, which revolved around the receipt of Wintz’s retirement letter. Kromholz said any views he presented were his own and not necessarily the views of the board. Additionally, he said, he had been serving as a school board member for “less than 30 days.”  

Praise for Wintz

During Tuesday’s meeting, several attendees offered praise for Wintz and his dedication to his students. 

Several of Tuesday’s attendees were among those offering similar comments during a school board meeting held Dec. 20. 

Attending the meeting remotely, Pete Grace, who described himself as a former Whitewater High School educator who “taught with Mike for many years,” said of Wintz, “without a doubt, I’m sure that he is the best auto mechanics teacher that we ever had.”  

Describing Wintz, former Whitewater High School shop teacher Ken Nehring said: “We’ve had a lot of auto mechanics teachers, and I’m not knocking any of them, but he’s good. The thing that a lot of people don’t realize is to do any type of teaching thing, you’ve got to have a few things going for you; one of them is a sense of humor, which he has. He gets along very well with his students, and some of you fellas there have been his students, and you know he can get along with some of the difficult students as well as some of the very good students. 

“I think it would be a loss to the school system and to the program if he were to leave.”

Nehring also talked about changes in technology education over the years within the school district, noting that he believed ending the program at the middle school, which, he said, occurred at the time when the high school was built, was “really a big mistake.” 

Middle school, he said, was a good starting point for many tech-ed students, noting that kids at that level can benefit from having something to do with their hands. 

Additionally, Nehring said:” If Mike is responsible for this, then I guess the principal ought to be responsible, too, because he’s responsible for Mike, and the superintendent has to be responsible because she’s responsible for the principal.”

Citing student choices, an attendee said: “Sometimes students make decisions that are poor, and it puts all the adults in a bad spot also. And that could happened to anyone when you get 600 teenagers in one building.”  

Kromholz told those in attendance that he was a supporter of technology education. Further, he said: “Regardless of how this all turns out, I think the most important thing to share at this meeting is that we all know Mike Wintz was a tremendous teacher for a number of years. My own son was in his class. We all owe a debt of gratitude and thanks to Mike for the years of service that he put in, and he should receive a debt of gratitude and a thank you.”  

The process 

Looking at potential next steps and focusing on school district process, Kromholz said: “There has been no hearing in front of the board on any of this … to my understanding, you (Wintz) submitted a resignation and that was an agreement, a legal agreement; I haven’t seen that agreement, but I understand that parts of that are confidential … There’s an agreement that got entered into between yourself and the district.”  

Wintz agreed. 

Kromholz continued: “So before this could ever get back to the board, the first thing that has to happen is that agreement has to be nullified. And you have to indicate that you want to nullify that agreement and then the district would have to agree that they want to nullify that agreement. Once that agreement’s nullified, then, I guess we go back to square one where you could request a hearing. They might come back again with termination, and I don’t know all the facts, I’m just talking about the procedure here.  

“I’m a lawyer so I’m big on procedures,” Kromholz said. 

Would a request for a hearing be granted by the board, Kromholz added, the evidence collected during the district’s investigation would be presented to the board, which would then vote. 

“But nothing can happen, as long as that resignation is in place,” he said. 

Hale asked if the board could decide against accepting Wintz’s retirement letter.  

Said Kromholz: “The agreement is in place now; as I understand it, it’s been signed by Mike, and Casey Judd, the president of the school board. So the agreement is in place. 

“To get to a hearing of the board, Mike would have to come in and say he wants that agreement removed and then, I guess, the district would have to say it wants that agreement removed. I’ve been on the board for 30 days so I’m looking into this, but, I’m trying to figure out who has the power to do that on the district side, and I don’t know just yet.” 

Kromholz told Wintz that any next step to restart the previous process would begin with him.  

Hale asked Kromholz: if Wintz chose to go before the board, would he risk losing his benefits?

Responding to Hale’s question, Wintz said: “That’s why I submitted my letter.”  

“If he goes back to the board there’s two outcomes: the termination can get affirmed, in which case I don’t know what all the aspects are, but I imagine there are some negative aspects. Or it could be refused. But again, that depends on how the board would vote based upon all the evidence that it hears at the hearing. And the board would have to have a hearing and hear the evidence,” Kromholz said. 

Wintz said he was given a period when he could change his mind about his decision, but that time had passed. 

Attendees asked Kromholz if the period could be extended. 

Kromholz said he believed Wintz could still submit a request to the district. 

Sharing his thoughts before he wrote his letter of retirement, Wintz said that he qualified for a health insurance benefit offered to those employed by the district for 15 consecutive years or were 55 years old or older. 

“So I took that and turned in my letter. I know three board members and I thought, well, a trial hearing isn’t going to really bother me, but I don’t know everyone, and I didn’t want to lose benefits I’d worked pretty hard to gain, so I turned in that letter. That was my train of thought,” Wintz said. 

Wintz said he did not want to lose his job.  

Support for technology education 

Kromholz said he was a supporter of technology education, both at the high and middle school levels. 

“There will always be tech-ed as long as I’m on the board. And we need more money in tech-ed. Right now, tech-ed, if you adjust for inflation, is being funded at one-eight of the funding that it had 25-30 years ago. So that’s crazy,” he said.  

“I’m a firm supporter of tech-ed. There will never not be tech-ed as long as I have a vote on the board; at least I’ll always be voting for it,” Kromholz continued. 

‘The more the board knows’ 

Attending the meeting virtually, former Whitewater educator Mark Maas thanked Kromholz for attending the meeting. 

“For you to even be here today is pretty awesome so I commend you for that,” Maas said, but, he added, he had concerns at the high school about “a bigger picture.” 

He described a history of workplace unrest, and suggested that “a line of questioning” was in order. 

Said Maas: “The more the board knows, the more the board knows.” 

He asked that the board apply “a little more due diligence on this whole thing. I hope some questions get asked that make some people feel really, really uncomfortable,” he said. 

Given what several in attendance described as a “toxic environment” at the high school, Hale asked Kromholz how the board would attract a new shop teacher. 

Hale asked: “How are you going to find a replacement for Mike Wintz if anybody that’s coming to apply for the job knows the toxicity that exists in that environment, for taking a kid into that classroom and having a small accident happen and you get terminated? How are you going to grow the program if you lose him?”  

“It’s my understanding that they are actively looking for another person right now. When they have everything said and done, I don’t know, and I don’t know the answer to that question,” Kromholz said.  

“We are getting the cart before the horse here, ok, with that question,” Kromholz added.  

“I guess I’d like to know, why are we even here talking about that?” another attendee asked.  “Why is this man forced to make this decision; why was he put in that place to begin with? I think the two most important components in this room right now are you (Kromholz) and Mike. Everyone else here is an outsider looking in. We do not know .. we’re all trying to piece this all together. Mike’s the only one that really knows what happened. Have you even had a chance to get that story?”  

Said Wintz: “The board, It’s my understanding, on purpose they cannot share anything with them in case there is a hearing. Then they have no preconceived notions going into that hearing.” 

Kromholz said the information from the investigation was not shared with board members because a hearing was not held. 

Attendee Mike Pope asked why Wintz had not been placed on paid administrative leave while the process was underway. 

Wintz said he had been placed on paid administrative leave. 

“And then our insurance company — the district’s insurance company — did some investigations and some interviews with some students and faculty members, and, it was my understanding, that it was Caroline’s (Pate-Hefty’s) recommendation to terminate my employment. 

“And she did present to me the options,” Wintz said. 

Wintz said at that time, he was asked to make a choice. 

“I’m just glad the student involved is back in school and has been for several weeks; he’s just fine and running around talking to his friends,” Wintz said. 

Shop safety procedures  

Hale asked Kromholz if he was aware that the student had to pass a test to participate in the tech-ed program. 

According to Hale, a statement on safety information reads: “I will not shoot sparks at myself or others in any situation.”  

The student signed that agreement, Hale said. 

Others, including the two high school students in the room, agreed all shop program participants had to sign a safety agreement.  

“I think my son had to sign an agreement like that,” Kromholz said. 

Attendees asked why the student was not held accountable for the accident. 

Citing issues associated with culpability, Wintz said: “The people I talked to and worked with for a couple of decades are scared to death to go to work. They don’t want to go. They think they are all going to get fired. No one will do lunch duty. It’s a terrible environment.” 

Responding to questions asked about his safety record, Wintz said: “I went 27 years completely incident-free.”  

Both of the high school students in attendance said at school, students were not allowed to mention Wintz’s name, with one student saying the whole incident was “hush-hush.” 

Moving forward

Responding to questions about next steps and requesting a hearing, Kromholz said: “I don’t know if it’s the school board’s decision or the superintendent’s decision. I have to find that out.”  

Attendee A.J. Tanis said he was concerned about “some of the situations” in the district’s schools and “COVID money spent on things that I consider frivolous.” 

He asked about accountability at the administrative level. 

As the meeting concluded, when asked about takeaways, Kromholz said: “I learned that there’s tremendous support for Mr. Wintz in this segment of the community for sure. I’m gratified that we have people that are active in the community and want to participate in this. My takeaways are I want to gather some more information, but I do think at this stage, it’s up to Mr. Wintz to make some decisions before anything can go forward, and that’s his choice, and not my choice.” 

An earlier story about Wintz’s retirement letter submitted as one of several options provided by the school district after its investigation of a shop-related accident at the high school is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/whitewater-teachers-retirement-fuels-controversy-supporters-look-for-reinstatement/.