The former high school principal of the Oconto Falls School District, Stuart Russ, now serves as superintendent.
Russ took over as superintendent after Dean Hess retired this summer.
Russ’s upbringing in small-town Wausaukee laid a firm foundation for future success.
“I grew up on our family’s dairy farm,” Russ said. “Milking cows and daily barn chores will teach you a thing or two about the value of hard work and dedication.”
After graduating from Wausaukee High School, Russ completed undergraduate studies at Ripon College and earned a master’s degree from Marian University.
“My most recent education would be the superintendent licensure program through Viterbo University in La Crosse,” Russ said.
Russ taught at Luxemburg-Casco High School and at Laconia High School (Rosendale-Brandon School District). He has eight years of administration experience with the Shawano School District.
“Being at one district, serving four years as the high school associate principal and another four years as middle school principal,” Russ said, “I got to see the ins-and-outs of a decade’s worth of district business — an invaluable experience.”
Russ also served one year as the principal of Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School, and two years as the principal of Oconto Falls High School.
“The Oconto Falls Public School District is home,” Russ said. “When I became the principal at OFHS, our family moved into the district.”
With 17 years of teaching and administration experience, Russ looks forward to this next chapter as superintendent.
“This community has been extremely supportive of our school system. We have a tremendous staff and excellent student population,” Russ said. “This is a great place to be.”
While finding qualified faculty and staff to hire continues to challenge many districts, the school district is squared away for the current school year.
“Staffing continues to be a challenge impacting districts across the state,” Russ said. “We are fortunate to have the vast majority of our open positions filled, and our administrative team has worked to develop plans for covering any vacancy as we gear up for the start of the school year.”
School bus driver vacancies had been a major challenge for the district, but the situation is getting better.
“We are in a better spot than previous years,” Russ said. “Yet we’re continually looking to grow the number of drivers in our district,” Russ said. “Our school board took action last year to increase compensation for members of our transportation team.”
The district, according to its website, is offering bus drivers $27-$29 per hour based on experience.
Many school districts across the country have recently revisited their policies on cell phone use. The OFSD made updates to their policy last year. Russ stated that the current district-wide policy prohibits students from having cell phones in the classroom.
“Our high school made the adjustment to no longer allow personal communication devices in classrooms in April of 2024,” Russ said. “The policy is reflective of what was already taking place at the middle school level and the elementary levels.”
Russ said that he is thankful to serve a community “extremely supportive of the school system,” noting the completion of the new middle school building.
“I came onboard at the end of the middle school project,” Russ said, “but I continue to be extremely impressed with the amount of time, effort and energy that went into completing the project ahead of schedule and under budget.”
