Pewaukee school board approves resignation, hires replacement, extends leave and adds consulting days for communications manager

The Pewaukee Board of Education on Monday approved four personnel items: acceptance of a social studies teacher resignation, hiring a replacement for Pewaukee High School, approval of an extended leave past FMLA for another teacher, and an amendment adding five annual consulting days to the marketing and communications manager's contract.

The board voted to accept the resignation of social studies teacher Kelly Welton and to hire Isaiah Grove as her replacement at Pewaukee High School. Board members said they were impressed with Grove’s qualifications; the transcript records that he already holds a master’s degree. The motion to hire was approved. During the vote, a board member said they would “abstain,” but the record in the meeting transcript does not identify which member abstained.

Separately, the board approved an extension of leave for teacher Leah Cooper beyond her full FMLA leave. According to Cooper’s letter reviewed by the board, childcare arrangements for her daughter are the reason the leave must continue; the board recorded support for Cooper and her family but did not set a return date in the public discussion.

The board also approved an amendment to Miranda Kozlik’s employment terms to include five consulting days annually. Kozlik is identified in the meeting as the district’s marketing and communications manager. The board described the days as a retention-oriented benefit that does not accumulate as vacation time and carries no additional ongoing cost if unused.

All four items were considered part of the personnel portion of the meeting and were approved by motion. The meeting transcript records motions and seconds for each approval but does not attach names to the individual movers and seconders. The transcript also contains inconsistent spellings for some individuals (for example, the departing teacher’s last name appears as both “Welton” and “Weltzien” in different places and the hire’s name appears as “Grove” and “Groove” in different lines); the board packet or district HR records should be consulted for official spellings.

Discussion versus decision: the transcript shows expressions of appreciation for the departing teacher and support for the staff on leave; those remarks were recorded as discussion. The personnel approvals were formal actions recorded by motion and vote.

No statutes, ordinances or external legal authorities were cited during the personnel discussion in the transcript.

The personnel items were introduced and decided during the board’s regular session; no additional administrative directions or follow-up tasks were specified on the record beyond the approvals.