Dean Hess, who has been superintendent of the Oconto Falls School District for nearly a decade, plans to retire at the end of the school year.
The school board was scheduled to consider Hess’ retirement, according to the agenda for the board’s Nov. 11 regular monthly meeting.
Hess was principal of John Muir Middle School in Wausau when he was hired in May 2015 to succeed David Polashek as superintendent in Oconto Falls.
Hess is a graduate of Elcho High School. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in broadfield science and a minor in biology and military science from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He earned a master’s degree in education leadership from the University of Wisconsin-Superior and a doctorate in education leadership from Edgewood College in Madison.
Hess taught high school science in Plainfield before coming to Wausau, where he spent seven years as an assistant principal at Horace Mann Middle School and 10 years as principal at John Muir Middle School.
He led the district during successful referendum campaigns in 2017, when voters authorized the board to exceed state-imposed revenue limits by a total of $11.5 million over five years, and a 2021 question that extended that authorization.
After a five-year effort to prepare the way for replacement of aging Washington Middle School, Hess and the board were stymied in April 2022 when voters rejected a $49.9 million referendum question that proposed a new middle school plus nearly $19 million for projects at the district’s other three school buildings.
School officials regrouped. Seven months later, a scaled-back $37.6 million capital referendum — with the new middle school as a centerpiece — was approved by 58.7% of district voters.
The official groundbreaking for the new school was held Sept. 27, 2023, and Oconto Falls Middle School is on track for completion in time for the 2025-26 school year.
wbluhm@newmedia-wi.com
Oconto Falls superintendent to retire
