OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — On Friday morning, former District Administrator for the Winneconne Community School District, Margaret "Peggy" Larson, released a statement via her lawyer regarding her retirement.
The statement says that "retirement was not part of Peggy’s plans", but that it was the best option presented to her.
The school board accepted Larson's retirement in a 4-2 vote at a special meeting Wednesday, September 30. Larson had been placed on paid leave in August.
After the retirement vote, Winneconne School Board Member Jill Verich called into question how voluntary Larson's retirement was.
"Peggy understands that records relating to the circumstances preceding her retirement may be released in response to public records requests. She wants to be clear that she disagrees with the investigation, its conclusions, and certain assertions made by the investigator," said her lawyer's statement, "Those conclusions do not reflect Peggy’s understanding of the events or the values that have guided her throughout her career."
NBC 26 has requested from the school district the investigative records mentioned by Larson, but has not yet received them.
This announcement comes after Winneconne community members filled school board meetings in support of Larson, and a recall effort is underway against School Board president Kati Calewarts and Vice president Dean Ackmann.
School Board Member Jill Verich has previously argued that no decisions regarding Larson's retirement should be made until after the recall effort is over.
Neighbors in Winneconne are divided. Some people said online they feel Larson's retirement was warranted. Others blasted the school board.
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I spent the day speaking with neighbors in Winneconne, including Kimberly Zeller, a former Winneconne Schools employee who was terminated over what she says were comments she made at a board meeting. Zeller doesn't believe Larson's retirement was a choice.
"I really think that they pushed her out," Zeller said,
"Even like for me, when I got the termination letter, I also got a resignation letter that I could sign, um, which I did not do. And I'm sure that they did the same thing to her."
Board Clerk Kari Flagg must finalize her review of the recall petition signatures on Monday. Candidates to challenge Calewarts and Ackmann will be announced at that time.
Early in the school year, many Winneconne students rallied in favor of Larson. DeMarcus McDaniel, a Winneconne Community School District senior, shared his reaction.
"I was very disappointed. I was very heartbroken," McDaniel said, "She was kind of somewhat forced to do this, even though she was a very good district administrator."
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