RAYMOND, Wis. — Janell Wise retained her seat and Mike Pauers is the newest member of the Raymond School Board.
Henry Hays cast his ballot minutes before the polls closed at the Village of Raymond Town Hall in the school board recall election on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. / Mark Hertzberg for Racine County Eye 
Henry Hays cast his ballot minutes before the polls closed at the Village of Raymond Town Hall in the school board recall election on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. / Mark Hertzberg for Racine County Eye 
Henry Hays cast his ballot minutes before the polls closed at the Village of Raymond Town Hall in the school board recall election on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. / Mark Hertzberg for Racine County Eye
1,077 voters of the 2,457 — not counting those who registered at the polls — eligible voters cast ballots in the Raymond School District’s first recall election.
Pauers said he was letting it all soak in before he releases any comment.
“It was a long ground game,” he said. “I need to take all this in.”
Raymond School Board recall election results
By the time the polls closed at 8 p.m., 1,077 ballots were cast.
Totals at the end of the night came to:
Janell Wise: 584
Mike Pauers: 576
Jennifer Hribar: 485
Dean Langenfeld: 491
Laurie Borowski said she came out to vote because she’s lived in Raymond for 30 years and remains involved in the community.
“Despite our kid’s out of the district now, we feel it’s important to stay involved,” she said. “Transparency is key, and I’ve been disappointed with the disconnection lately. It’s been difficult to get information.”
One resident agreed to comment if they would not be named.
Former school board member Gwen Keller photographs the results of the school board recall election on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. Keller, a target of the recall, resigned her seat in January. Mike Pauers was elected to the school board while Janell Wise, the other target of the recall, retained her seat. / Mark Hertzberg for Racine County Eye Credit: Mark Hertzberg 
Former school board member Gwen Keller photographs the results of the school board recall election on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. Keller, a target of the recall, resigned her seat in January. Mike Pauers was elected to the school board while Janell Wise, the other target of the recall, retained her seat. / Mark Hertzberg for Racine County Eye Credit: Mark Hertzberg 
Ballots were counted at the Village of Raymond Town Hall after the school board recall election on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. Mike Pauers was elected to the school board while Janell Wise, the other target of the recall, retained her seat. / Mark Hertzberg for Racine County Eye Credit: Mark Hertzberg
“We still feel very satisfied with the outcome,” they said. “We brought a lot of information to the community that hadn’t been there before. Not one candidate won by a landslide, and hopefully Janell and Mike will be more transparent going forward.”
What they wanted was more transparency, and that has happened, so the recall effort did its job.
“It’s just too bad it took this effort and this expense to get them to do their jobs,” the resident stated.
What triggered the recall
The Raymond Community for Truth and Transparency group said former school board member Gwen Keller and current member Janell Wise weren’t fulfilling their duties and collected well north of the 497 votes needed to trigger a recall for each of them.
Keller resigned in January, telling interim Superintendent James Heiden she would find other ways to serve the community.
Ballots were counted at the Village of Raymond Town Hall after the school board recall election on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. / Mark Hertzberg for Racine County Eye 
Ballots, including about 200 absentee ballots, were counted at the Village of Raymond Town Hall after the school board recall election on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. / Mark Hertzberg for Racine County Eye 
Ballots, including about 200 absentee ballots, were counted at the Village of Raymond Town Hall after the school board recall election on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. / Mark Hertzberg for Racine County Eye
“I’m just so proud of my community,” Keller said at Village Hall as the polls closed.
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