KENOSHA, Wis. — Kenosha Unified School District has a new Chief of School Leadership, and instead of promoting someone from within Wisconsin’s third-largest school district, KUSD went west — hiring former Randall Consolidated and Twin Lakes #4 District Administrator Robert Antholine, an administrator whose tenure in western Kenosha County ended with both districts facing serious financial challenges, a failed Twin Lakes referendum, controversy over an attempted ban of this reporter from public school board meetings, and now questions from a tipster about the circumstances surrounding his departure.

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KUSD now identifies 50-year-old Robert Antholine as its Chief of School Leadership and one of the district’s Title IX coordinators. Antholine succeeds William Haithcock in the position. Haithcock made about $175,000 annually, and Antholine is expected to earn approximately the same amount. Before coming to KUSD, Antholine was already collecting approximately $170,000 annually through two simultaneous district administrator positions — about $85,000 from Randall and another $85,000 from Twin Lakes. If Antholine’s KUSD compensation is around Haithcock’s $175,000 salary, the move represents only about a $5,000 annual increase over what Antholine was earning from the two districts combined.

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Antholine lives in Muskego, about 30 miles from Kenosha, adding another dimension to KUSD’s decision to look outside its own ranks for one of the district’s top leadership positions. KUSD employs numerous principals, administrators and veteran educators who already work in the district and live in or around the Kenosha community, but the district instead selected an administrator whose most recent leadership experience was running two much smaller western Kenosha County school districts.

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A former Randall student who says he later worked under Antholine at the district was sharply critical of KUSD’s decision. “I’m a Randall alumni, I’ve lived in Twin Lakes for most of my life, my kids attended Randall during Bob’s tenure, and I worked under him for 6 months as Randall’s Director of IT,” Andrew Curzon told KCE. “He ran our districts into the ground. He is the sole purpose I took my kids out of the district I live in and graduated from, open enrolling them elsewhere, and left what I thought to be my dream career. KUSD made a huge mistake hiring this guy.”

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Haithcock Leaves Behind Controversy And Litigation
Haithcock’s tenure as Chief of School Leadership was itself controversial. He remains a defendant, along with KUSD and the district’s insurer, in a civil lawsuit brought by Kenosha resident Doris Marshall over an incident at Bradford High School’s June 5, 2023 graduation ceremony at Indian Trail High School. Haithcock admitted under oath that he threw an unopened water bottle approximately 15 feet toward a group of people. Marshall, an elderly Kenosha woman, alleges the bottle struck her in the head and caused serious and lasting injuries.

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Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge David Wilk denied KUSD and Haithcock’s attempt to dispose of the lawsuit through summary judgment, allowing Marshall’s claims to proceed. KUSD appealed that ruling, arguing that Haithcock was protected by governmental immunity because throwing the bottle was a discretionary act. Marshall’s attorneys have argued that throwing a hard, unopened bottle toward a group of people created an obvious danger.

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Haithcock acknowledged in a sworn affidavit that he threw the bottle, although he said he did not intend to hit Marshall. Video subsequently released by KUSD showed Haithcock tossing the bottle and the bottle striking Marshall. Despite the litigation and criticism surrounding the incident, Haithcock remained one of KUSD’s highest-paid administrators, earning approximately $175,000 per year.

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The lawsuit remains pending. For KUSD taxpayers hoping the next Chief of School Leadership would arrive without baggage, Antholine’s selection may raise a different set of questions.

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Antholine Ran Two Districts At Once
Before coming to KUSD, Antholine simultaneously served as District Administrator for Randall Consolidated School District and Twin Lakes #4, commonly known as Lakewood School. Public records previously reviewed by Kenosha County Eye showed Antholine receiving approximately $85,000 from each district — roughly $170,000 combined annually — to administer both districts.

That arrangement has now ended. Randall appointed Jeff Fleig as its own District Administrator, while Twin Lakes appointed Ryan Berndt as its District Administrator and Principal. Rather than continuing the arrangement under which the neighboring districts shared Antholine, each district now has its own administrator.

Antholine, meanwhile, moved on to the substantially larger KUSD and one of its highest-level administrative jobs.

His departure comes as the districts he led have dealt with significant financial problems. Twin Lakes voters rejected a four-year, $3.2 million operational referendum in April, with nearly 52% voting against it. At the time, the district was facing a reported deficit of between $750,000 and $1 million. The referendum would have allowed the district to exceed its revenue limit by $800,000 annually for four years to help fund staffing, programs, employee benefits and other expenses.

Antholine publicly warned after the referendum failed that additional taxpayer funding was necessary.

“If we want to continue to provide quality education and quality educators for students that go to Twin Lakes, we really do need a referendum to pass in November or April of next year,” Antholine said.

Financial difficulties alone do not establish misconduct by an administrator, and school districts throughout Wisconsin have faced significant funding challenges. But Antholine left the two districts after serving as the top administrator while they were dealing with serious financial pressures, and the timing and circumstances of that departure are now attracting scrutiny.

Tipster Raises Questions About Antholine’s Departure
Those questions became more pointed when a tipster contacted Kenosha County Eye after learning that Antholine had landed the Chief of School Leadership position at KUSD.

The tipster said rumors have been circulating in western Kenosha County that Antholine was forced out of Randall and Twin Lakes because of concerns involving district finances and numbers allegedly not lining up. The tipster also alleged there were questions about whether officials at his former districts became aware of possible improper or illegal activity and simply permitted Antholine to leave rather than taking further action.

Kenosha County Eye has not independently substantiated those allegations, and KCE presently has no evidence establishing that Antholine committed a crime or engaged in financial misconduct. The allegations are being reported for what they are — a tip that prompted further investigation.

KCE has now submitted public records requests to both Randall and Twin Lakes seeking Antholine’s resignation and separation documents, disciplinary records contained within his personnel files, investigative records, audits and records concerning financial or enrollment discrepancies. The new administrators of both districts were specifically informed about the substance of the tip and asked for records that could substantiate, contradict or otherwise shed light on the allegations.

Attempt To Ban KCE From Public Board Meetings
Antholine was already no stranger to controversy with Kenosha County Eye before his departure.

During Antholine’s tenure at Twin Lakes, an attorney representing the district sent KCE Editor Kevin Mathewson a letter purporting to restrict him from district property and requiring advance permission before attending events — including events open to the public. The letter threatened police involvement if Mathewson appeared on district property without permission.

That effort ran into a significant problem when Twin Lakes Police Chief Katie Hall subsequently instructed her officers that the district’s letter, standing alone, did not establish probable cause to remove, cite or arrest Mathewson. Hall specifically made clear that attendance at an open public meeting was not illegal merely because the school district had requested that someone be excluded and that officers needed independent criminal conduct before taking enforcement action.

The attempted restriction raised serious First Amendment and open-government concerns, particularly to the extent the district sought to prevent a journalist from attending open school board meetings.

KUSD Goes Outside Its Own Ranks
Perhaps one of the most notable aspects of Antholine’s hiring is where KUSD found its next Chief of School Leadership: outside KUSD.

The district employs thousands of people and has numerous principals, administrators and longtime educators who have spent years working within Kenosha Unified. Instead of promoting one of them into the senior leadership position, KUSD selected Antholine, whose most recent experience was administering Randall and Twin Lakes simultaneously and who lives approximately 30 miles away in Muskego.

Antholine does have extensive experience in education. His professional history includes administrative and instructional positions with Whitnall, West Allis-West Milwaukee, Waukesha and Swallow school districts, along with earlier work in Muskego-Norway.

But the questions surrounding his selection aren’t simply whether Antholine has a résumé long enough for the job. They include whether KUSD examined the circumstances surrounding his departure from Randall and Twin Lakes, whether district officials reviewed the financial condition of the two districts he was leaving, whether they spoke with board members or officials at both districts, and whether they were aware of any concerns that may have existed before hiring him.

Kenosha County Eye will continue investigating those questions and will report what the records from Randall and Twin Lakes show when they are produced.

For KUSD, the transition represents a change in names at the top of school leadership. Whether it represents a change for the better remains to be seen. After the controversial tenure of William Haithcock, some in the community are already wondering whether KUSD found the fresh start it needed — or simply replaced one controversial administrator with another.