Southern Door Superintendent Chris Peterson remains on administrative leave from the district after a pair of closed sessions held within the last week.

First reported by WDOR, Peterson was placed on administrative leave following a special school board meeting held last Thursday. In the minutes from that meeting, the school board entered executive session just after 7 p.m. to “consider the employment and performance evaluation data as well as social or personal history or disciplinary data of the District Administrator which, if discussed in public, would be likely to have a substantial adverse effect upon the reputation of the District Administrator” and to confer with district’s legal counsel. The board took a brief recess at 9:50 p.m. so attorney Tony Renning of Renning, Lewis & Lacy in Green Bay and school board members Penny Price and Kim Starr could talk to Peterson. The closed session recommenced just before 10:10 p.m. on Thursday. No reason as to why Peterson was placed on leave was given.

The school board entered executive session again during their regular school board meeting on Monday, though further review of the District Administrator was not explicitly listed on the agenda. Price, who serves the school board as its president, said via email that nothing new occurred at Monday’s meeting and that Peterson would remain on leave.

Peterson was hired in 2021 to take over for the retiring Patti Vickman after he served in the same role at Howards Grove School District. He recently helped engineer some major changes at the district, including garnering millions of dollars for a series of referendum-related projects and the implementation of block scheduling for the 2024-2025 school year.