Raymond School Board election; recall unsuccessful

RAYMOND, Wis. - The votes are in for a recall election in the Village of Raymond.

Parents recalled two school board members after they voted to oust the school's principal last fall. The unofficial results, shared by village clerk Barb Hill after the election on Tuesday, Feb. 27, show the recall was unsuccessful.

Board member Janell Wise retains her seat, and though Gwen Keller resigned, thus avoiding recall, a conservative-leaning candidate is taking her spot.

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In the first race for Keller’s seat, Mike Pauers defeated Dean Langenfeld with nearly 54 percent of the vote.

In the second race, Wise held off Jennifer Hribar by almost 100 votes.

The race has been controversial and it brought people to the polls. There were just over 1,000 people voting, meaning turnout is around 43%.

"I do have friends that work here as teachers and substitute teachers, and there's been a lot of controversy over the last year or so here, and so, I just felt it was important as a citizen to put in my vote," said Gail Flancher.

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Voters on both sides said they felt too much was at stake to sit the election out.

"I think the recall was totally unnecessary, and I think what they're trying to do is actually go ahead and take the more conservative people off the board, so they can put more liberal people on the board that's gonna cause the school to go woke," said voter Mark Raymond.

This all came as a response to the board's decision not to renew the contract of Principal Jeff Peterson. He and his attorney told FOX6 News they felt that was done because Peterson is gay.

Those who pushed for the recalls say the two discriminated against Peterson and did not follow open meeting laws.