Principal who resigned will be paid through June

Port Washington High School Principal Thad Gabrielse resigned on Jan. 24 after being arrested for drunken driving a month earlier but the School District has agreed to pay him through June 30, according to a severance agreement released by the district last week in response to an open records request by Ozaukee Press.

Gabrielse, who hasn’t worked as Port High’s principal since being placed on leave on Dec. 29 but continues to collect his $128,562 salary, is also eligible to receive health, dental and life insurance benefits through June 30 under the agreement.

In addition, the district essentially agreed to allow him to retire by waiving the minimum age requirement and making him eligible to receive an additional 10 years of health insurance benefits. At 54, he is one year short of the minimum retirement age of 55.

According to the agreement, the district will not contest a claim by Gabrielse, if he chooses to file one, for unemployment compensation, agreeing “solely for the purpose of unemployment” that the district solicited his resignation. 

The agreement also requires Supt. Dave Watkins to write Gabrielse a letter of recommendation.

After meeting on Jan. 24 in closed session for a third time to discuss Gabrielse’s future in the district, the Port Washington-Saukville School Board voted 8-1 to approve his resignation and retirement.

  At the time, Watkins refused to discuss anything to do with Gabrielse and School Board President Brenda Fritsch did not return messages.

Board member Matthew Uselding, who voted against accepting Gabrielse’s resignation and retirement, said the day after the vote, “I vote my conscience and for what’s in the best interest of students, teachers and parents, and for those reasons I voted no.”

When asked specifically why he voted against accepting Gabrielse’s resignation and retirement, Uselding declined to answer because, he said, it involved discussions that were had in closed meetings. 

Gabrielse’s resignation agreement includes a confidentiality clause that compels him and district officials “to keep the existence and terms of this agreement confidential,” although it essentially acknowledges the agreement is a public record the district will have to release in response to a request under Wisconsin’s open records law. 

Ozaukee Press filed such a request on Jan. 26.

The district also initially refused to release Gabrielse’s resignation letter, although Gabrielse sent it to Ozaukee Press. 

In it he wrote, “I believe the board and I are in agreement that recent events have made it difficult for me to lead our high school. My hope is that my resignation allows the district to move forward and focus on what is most important — the education and success of our students.

“I am proud of the impact I have had on this district and will always treasure the relationships I have built.

“I wish to think our families, staff, students and board for making my experience so special and for their support of our school and the students we serve.”

Gabrielse declined to comment further.

Watkins said that he and Director of Business Services Mel Nettesheim decided on Dec. 29 to place Gabrielse on leave. In a letter informing him of that decision, Nettesheim wrote, “The district is conducting an investigation into your conduct surrounding your possibly operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated,” calling it a “serious matter.”

Gabrielse was driving north on I-43 around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 23, when an Ozaukee County Sheriff’s deputy said he saw Gabrielse’s pickup truck swerving on the freeway between Port Washington and Saukville, according to a sheriff’s department report. 

After being pulled over at the north side of Port Washington, Gabrielse, who lives in Oostburg and was presumably driving home, told the deputy he had two rum and Cokes at a Grafton bar, the report states.

A preliminary breath test showed Gabrielse’s blood alcohol content was higher than the legal limit of .08, according to the report. 

He received traffic citations for first-offense operating a vehicle while intoxicated and deviating from his lane.

First-offense driving while intoxicated is a civil forfeiture, not a criminal offense, that is punishable by fines, license revocation and in some instances court orders to have ignition interlock devices installed on vehicles. 

Gabrielse has pleaded not guilty to the citations. 

Gabrielse’s arrest and the district’s response has been the source of community angst expressed on social media and at a Jan. 10 School Board meeting attended by dozens of Port High teachers who called on the School Board to reinstate Gabrielse.

Describing Gabrielse as a strong leader and advocate for students and staff members, especially during the pandemic, veteran Port High teacher Meg Jacoby told board members, “The decision to reinstate Mr. Gabrielse is in the best interest of our students. We are counting on you to make the right decision.”

But Gabrielse also has his detractors, some of whom have asked on social media how an educator who disciplines students for infractions outside of school, including those that involve alcohol, can effectively lead a school after being arrested for drunken driving.

Gabrielse, a former tech-ed teacher and athletic director in the Howards Grove School District, was hired as Port Washington High School athletic director and an assistant principal in 2010.

In 2020, he was named principal of the school to succeed Eric Burke, who left to become superintendent of the Rhinelander School District.

The district is currently in the process of finding Gabrielse’s successor and plans to name a new Port High principal in April. That person is expected to begin working in the district on July 1.

Until then, the school is being led by assistant principals Dan Solorzano and Nate Hinze with help from Duane Woelfel, the district’s director of special services and a former Port High principal.