Three more Verona Area School District educators are planning to retire at the end of the school year.
The Verona Area Board of Education approved retirements for teachers Christine Frei, Jay Nyhagen and Lorinda Cain-Bowles at its Monday, Feb. 15, meeting. The three educators join four others – Mark Rohlfing, James Guy, Badger Ridge Middle School principal Alan Buss and superintendent Dean Gorrell – who previously had announced retirement plans.
Collectively, the seven educators have spent 172 years in the district, with the three newly approved retirements totaling 71.
Frei, an English as a second language teacher at Country View Elementary School, has been with the district for 23 years; Nyhagen, a physical education teacher at Verona Area High School, has teaching in the district for 32; and Cain-Bowles, a reading specialist at Country View, has 16 years of service.
The announcements come a month earlier than last year, leaving open the possibility that more educators could announce their intent to retire in June. Last year, 12 certified teachers and three administrators left, the teachers alone accounting for more than 317 years.
The high school is shaping up to be one of the hardest-hit sites for retirements, as Nyhagen and Guy have more than 60 years of experience combined. Country View is next, with 49 years of experience leaving at the end of the year.
