Former Glenwood City School District Superintendent Tim Johnson is facing 17 felony charges after being accused of stealing nearly $300,000.
The charges filed on Friday accuse Johnson of theft, money laundering, forgery and misconduct of office. He is accused of taking $290,792 of funds during his time with the district. Of that funding, he is accused of taking $90,277 through his role as superintendent and keeping $200,515 that were meant for courses at Viterbo University that he never took.
According to an audit conducted by Intellex Forensics, Johnson received $125,000 in educational stipends and $75,515 in reimbursements for the classes he never took. The stipends were authorized by Johnson himself.
Following his departure from the Glenwood City School District, Johnson became the Human Resources Executive for the Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District. He was placed on administrative leave from that role when the investigation into his past conduct began, and later submitted his resignation on January 29th.
The Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District conducted an internal audit after the allegations were made public. Their audit confirmed that Johnson had not made any inappropriate expenditures or misused district funds in any way during his tenure as Human Resources executive.
According to a WEAU report, the audit into Johnson’s alleged theft from the Glenwood City School District was completed in June but he attempted to block its release with an injunction. He and a former accountant were also accused of mishandling $349,650 for school district investments.
Johnson is scheduled to appear in court on the charges on November 21st.
