Interesting.
From:tconners@wbsd-schools.org
Date: May 26, 2017 at 3:06:44 PM
Subject:Update for High School Families
Reply-To:tconners@wbsd-schools.org
———————————————–Good afternoon parents and community members,
We wanted to advise you about a change in District staffing at the high schools which may have a short-term impact on the remaining few days of your child’s school year. Effective today, four of our teachers elected to resign from their positions at West Bend East and West High Schools. While we understand that the timing of these resignations is not ideal, the District accepted them due to the specific circumstances leading up to the resignations. Please know that while we wish to be as transparent as possible, due to confidentiality laws and out of respect for the privacy of the educators involved, we are unable to provide further details about the specifics of their resignations. We can say factually, however, that these resignations were in no way related to any opinions expressed about curriculum.
Additionally, your child may have noticed an increased police presence during their school day today. While no specific threat was identified in advance, we were made aware of social media conversations which indicated there was the potential for disruption at some point during the school day. Thus, the decision was made, in conjunction with the West Bend Police Department, to increase officer visibility throughout the day as a precaution.
We want to reiterate that our primary focus continues to be the instruction of your children, and ensuring that they are prepared for the upcoming final exams, and the end of the school year. We will not lose sight of that focus.
Lastly, out of regard for the four educators involved, we encourage you to respect their privacy moving forward.
Sincerely,
Erik Olson, Superintendent
Tracey Conners, Principal West Bend High Schools
I have heard from a couple of sources that this has to do with some inappropriate online activity that dates back a couple of weeks. They were told to knock it off and they didn’t. After getting caught again, they were told to resign or be fired, reportedly. Interesting that they all chose to resign. That would indicate that they knew they were caught dead to rights. Otherwise, they would have been better off to get fired and sue the district for wrongful termination.
I have asked the president of the school board for comment. So far, she has not responded (I asked yesterday). I have also filed an open records request for more details. In the meantime, I hope that the district shields the kids from as much of the unfortunate consequences of this as possible.
Don’t know if you will get any response from the Board president, despite her constant running at the mouth about lack of transparency with prior Boards and administrations. Probably can not say much with it being a personnel matter. Saw a copy of a post made by one of the other Board members – Tonya Schmitt – I think it was on social media. She did a pretty good job of explaining the process (maybe her lawyer wrote it for her) – Board does not know ahead of time about decisions like this, and during the process they are very limited in the background details they are given, so as to ensure a fair and impartial hearing, if there would be one. In these cases, most likely no hearings because the teachers resigned.