LUHS board appoints Justice to fill Carroll’s seat

Kurt Justice is the newest member of Lakeland Union High School’s (LUHS) board of education. He was sworn in by board member Heidi Fink during an Oct. 28 meeting, following the district’s budget hearing and annual meeting.

He said he was approached by a “couple of different individuals to see if I’d be willing to take Pam Carroll’s position.”

Carroll resigned from the board in July due to personal reasons after she was successful in her bid for re-election in the spring. 

Former board member Ann Hunt resigned in June for personal reasons as well. Ross Peterson was appointed by the board in August to fill Hunt’s vacancy.

Justice indicated he spoke to Carroll prior to his being appointed and said she supported his decision.

Justice has a granddaughter who attends LUHS and a grandson who will be attending LUHS in two years.

He said he’s hired many students over the last 25 years to work at the bait shop he owns, as well as hiring students to work at another bait shop he’s co-owned the last three years. 

“So my concerns have always been … how the kids are being prepared for life after high school,” Justice said.

Prior to the hearing and meetings he attended on Oct. 28, Justice also attended a board meeting on Oct. 14. 

He indicated his first impressions from those discussions were different from what he expected. 

“A lot of it was over my head, having not sat-in on anything before (and) not knowing exactly what they were all talking about,” Justice said. “There were a lot of acronyms that I’ve got to catch up on so I understand what … the conversations about. There’s a lot more to it, I always thought it was about curriculum, never really thought much about the building and all the other aspects of the high school. So it’s a lot more complicated than I thought it would be.”

At both meetings Justice attended so far, the board has been discussing the district’s facilities and trying to find a way to move forward to improve them. There’s been mention of a future referendum during those discussions and the formation of a “facilities task team” composed of not only board members, but community members and school staff as well.

Justice said he looks forward to working with the board and doing his part in helping shape the district for the future, though he still has his reservations.

“I found the board to be a group of very intelligent people,” he said. “(They’re) very detailed and seem to understand quite a lot about what was going on. So I was impressed with the board … and as much as I really do want to do everything I can to help, because I feel that … this is important for the kids, it’s also important for the community and also as a taxpayer  … but I’m going to do the best I can. I’m a very busy person, see how things pan out here and … so we’ll see what happens as the year progresses and see how involved I can be and see how much help I can be.”

Justice has plenty of experience on other boards. 

He was a member of the state’s Conservation Congress for 13 years, a body which assists the state’s Natural Resources Board and Department of Natural Resources, and was chairman of Vilas County’s chapter for six of those years. He was also on the Congress’ warm water committee for 12 years and served three of those years as committee co-chair. 

Justice was also the chairman of the Vilas County Deer Advisory Council for six years, as well as serving on the Northwoods Youth Deer Hunt Challenge board for 20 years and the Walleyes for Tomorrow Headwaters Chapter.

“I feel … that if you care about things then you need to step up and contribute, and I’m hoping that I can make a contribution to our LUHS school board,” Justice said. 

Trevor Greene may be reached via email at [email protected].