Passing the Buck

WCSD Board Meeting on January 10, 2022 Buries a Key Policy Change

This evening the school district’s Board of Education will be considering a policy change, buried within pages of boring policy changes that will likely go without significant public input. One specific proposal should be noted. It should not be pointed out for being particularly valuable or useful. This is likely a non-enforcable, semantic inclusion of suggested conduct for Board members. I believe Board members should be ethically obligated to flatly ignore it, yet without public input, it may well pass without any discussion.

Given that this policy has little more than rhetorical value, the fact it is being offered as a change to local law should be noticed by itself.

In Rule 224-1, the Board is considering the following language:

“The Board will work with the Superintendent to achieve a resolution to complaints, concerns, or controversies that may arise in a manner that is consistent with each other’s respective roles and with established policies and procedures. Individual Board members, in particular, have a responsibility to ensure that they are referring complaints, concerns, or controversies through appropriate channels and not attempting to investigate and resolve such issues in a manner that exceeds their individual authority.”

Harmless, right? Lots of buzz words and ambiguous phrases. Passing a bad policy however, is not harmless. There is no definition of what “appropriate channels” are anywhere in district policy. What does “established policies and procedures” mean? Good question, since the passage refers to none in particular. This is why I refer to this policy proposal as esoteric. No one will realize that the only method through which Board members actually can investigate anything is through referring actions to administration. So why make such a change? Why discourage BOE members from actually investigating the facts?

The issue should concern all sides of the ongoing political debates that rage over socialized education. Are parents worried about what their children are being taught in class? This policy suggests that elected officials should not investigate. Are parents concerned about systemic racism and policies that harm students of color? The policy pushes elected officials to not look into it any further.

The problem here should be obvious: what if the complaints are about administration itself? Or about the process administration uses (or fails to use) to investigate virtually anything? What if administration doesn’t want to investigate? As written by Juvenal and later popularized by Alan Moore, “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” or “Who Watches the Watchmen?”

• Was your child sexually assaulted in school? The district is supposed to investigate.

• Was your child the victim of bullying? Administration is supposed to investigate.

• Were extra-curricular groups violating Board policies or health mandates? Pay no mind John Q. Public who expects consistency on covid policies! Administration will investigate!

• Privacy violations? Administration.

• Discrimination? Administration.

• Did a staff person break the law? Teach your child there is no such thing as gender? Did the teacher say there are only two genders? Did the teacher start a prayer session? Did the teacher preach on the objective truth of the anarcho-marxist worldview?

Administration. Administration. Administration. Administration. Administration.

Many individuals who have no experience with public government do not realize that elected officials functionally have no independent authority to do… anything. Actual actions on behalf of the district may only be taken by the district’s employees or those they contract with (such as legal counsel).

So why does the district feel it necessary enact a policy that says Board members should not investigate anything that is brought to their attention?

To those of you who have not been privy to closed sessions of the Board of Education over the last several years, I can generally state that there have been multiple district investigations into a wide variety of events and incidents. Many of these investigations only took place because Board Members (either myself or others) had contact with the public, which led to referrals to the district to look into concerns further. Had this policy been in effect then it is fairly certain that none of these incidents would have been investigated at all.

This paragraph, if enacted, will justify Board members not doing their jobs. In effect, it will allow Board members to justify their non-action over ANY SUBJECT by referring to administration. After all, Board members have no independent ability to investigate anything. However, while I was on the Board, I routinely “investigated” beyond simply receiving what administration told me. I filed regular open records requests, I investigated what other Board members were saying privately AND publicly, and I took it upon myself to be better educated than simply being a passive vessel receiving information from one-sides sources. This led me to being better informed, and in my opinion, being a better representative while I was privileged enough to be in that position.

In my honest opinion, it is not the representative’s job to effectively say “that’s not my responsibility” when you see or hear about a problem. Every current Waunakee Community School District board representative today is well aware that any agency will not investigate itself if it doesn’t have to. The district’s purpose is to educate, not investigate. This district is not run by lawyers and detectives, but by teachers and curriculum professionals.

However, it must be represented by elected officials who are unwilling to simply look the other way.

For those who have been paying attention, three young men were charged in Dane County Circuit Court this week for disorderly conduct with hate crime enhancers. The three men, Cory Mellum, Bradley Behling, and Malik Yrios, were charged for the following incident, which was caught on camera, given the doorbell camera.

In Wisconsin, disorderly conduct with a hate crime enhancer is punishable by a maximum of one year in county jail, and a fine of up to $10,000.

According to local reports, the individual who answered the door was a five-year old child, who lives at the home with her parents (who are two women). The speaker, identified as Cory Mellum, said, as follows:

“Would you queers please get the fuck out of this neighborhood?”

Cory Mellum

It might be simple for us to write this off as a rare occurrence that did not happen in our community. After all, this happened in McFarland! Why are you upset about this here? This was precisely what a colleague said to me in Waunakee over the Christmas weekend. The direct quote (and I am reasonably certain he does not frequent the internet haunts that I frequent) was that “This kind of thing just doesn’t happen here. We’re more accepting in Waunakee.”

As much as I enjoy being disagreeable, I didn’t bother to disagree. It just wouldn’t have made a difference. It has never happened to me (here). I’m fairly sure it’s never happened to my colleague. We’re both cis-genered white men. The point, lest it be lost on anyone… is that bigotry generally doesn’t most often directly impact those who are in the majority.

Sad to say, it certainly does happen here. During my three years working for the community, I heard repeated stories of incidents of anti-LGBT bullying, mostly from children who reported there was little or no sanction for such conduct. As I’ve written previously, I was the recipient of some anti-LGBT bullying in high school myself (I’m not gay, but the people who tried bullying me were idiots, so that didn’t matter). As recently as September of this year, a colleague and friend of mine reported that vandals destroyed their families’ LGBT pride flag by cutting it in half… as it had been flying in Waunakee.

At the request of this individual, I will not share their name, but I can corroborate that these images were taken several months ago and sent to me at the time. They chose to simply move on, as it would be unlikely to catch anyone after the fact without video evidence. Since this incident, they did invest in a doorbell camera. The act of damaging someone’s property, for the assumed purpose of attacking it for its content as a pride flag, is actually a felony, and could have been punished more severely than the incident in McFarland.

In short – it does happen here. It just didn’t get caught on camera, turn into a viral video, and end up being viewed millions of times on Reddit, Tiktok, and Twitter.

What do we do about this? The school district has made it a focal point to ensure that inclusivity is important, that pride month is recognized every June, and that policies ensure that there is no discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender in general. Thank to the work of individuals like Joel Lewis, Tim Schell, the now-defunct district diversity committee, and district administrators, there is an anonymous reporting system being put into place to report incidents of bigotry and bullying in schools.

The school district, for two years, has flown pride flags at all district buildings. Following this, the district has flown the Juneteenth flag in February (in recognition of Black history month) and the Ho Chunk Nation flag in November (in recognition of the district existing on the Ho Chunk’s historical/ancestral lands).

It should be noted that the Pride flag resolution (passed June 2020) and Black History Month resolution (passed January 2021) both passed unanimously and with no opposition. Ted Frey and Jack Heinemann voted against the resolution to recognize the Ho Chunk Nation, which passed 5 vote to 2 votes in November 2021.

My friends in the LGBT community tell me that Waunakee remains viewed in the rest of Dane County as isolated and hostile. This isn’t intended to be a criticism of local leaders. I legitimately don’t know what leaders could do better or to be more inviting. However, it isn’t lost on me that representation matters. To my understanding, there never has been any person of color or openly non-heterosexual individual in any position of leadership, either elected or hired, in either Waunakee or Westport. That has to matter to those who never have someone like them in any position of authority. Because like it or not, our leaders (including me, when I was one) pretty much all look like this guy.

Cory Mellum, charged in Dane County Circuit Court with disorderly conduct, hate crime enhancers.

Our community has tremendous advantages: we have an affluent and educated population; we have ample space, wonderful businesses, and well-spoken leaders. There is no reason for Waunakee/Westport to be viewed as hostile to the LGBT community. However, the perception in the rest of the county remains fixed.

So what can we do to make change happen?

District Medical Committee Unanimously Recommends Mandatory Masking for all Individuals in District Buildings

The Waunakee Community School District Medical Ad Hoc Committee, appointed by the 2020-21 Board of Education (disclosure – I voted in favor of the creation of this committee), strongly advised that the Waunakee Board of Education reverse the Board’s decision in June to allow optional masking within the district buildings.

“Everyone has an opinion, but not all opinions matter the same.”

Dr. Jeff Pothof

Notable was the committee’s implicit acknowledgment that the district’s steps in 2020-21 were methodical, appropriate, and allowed for the maximal number of students to attend school in person. It should be noted that Waunakee was the first district to return K-4 students to in person classes (September 2020) and was one of the leading districts in returning all students to full in-person classes in early Spring 2021. However, the strength of the district’s conduct last year could easily “come undone” through mistaken actions during a spike in the delta variant of SARS-COV-2.

Public comments at the start of the the meeting began with Dr. Meghan Durst, a pediatrician and parent of two children attending elementary school in the school district. Dr. Grace organized and provided a letter to the Board signed by 50 local health care providers and scientists in favor of mandatory masking.

Ms. Ashley Taylor, a district employee, Waunakee Teachers Association representative, and parent of two children in the school district implored the board to continue to acknowledge that they are not experts and to follow the recommendation of the actual experts in disease mitigation and infectious diseases.

[It appeared that no district staff or Board member in attendance was masked, despite Dane County Public Health recommending that all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks when indoors around non-family members.]

Dr. Jeffrey Pothof then presented a comprehensive report on the medical advisors’ unanimous recommendation for the district to re-institute mandatory masking for all individuals in the WCSD buildings until further changes and recommendations are made.

Dr. Pothof noted that masking will prevent the loss of education. Noting that “Fact #1 – Masks Work.” “Any idea that masks don’t work… we need to get that out of our heads. They really do.”

Dr. Pothof disabused the group of the notion that “natural immunity” alone is useful to consider, as “we need to think about our responsibility to the community.” Notably, multisystem inflammatory syndrome, long-haul covid, and the further mutation of the virus were cited as reasons to continue to maintain mitigation strategies.

Further, Dr. Pothof directly noted that “Everyone has an opinion, but not all opinions matter the same.” then noting the strong recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatricians (a group of 67,000 doctors across the US), the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society, and Dane County-Madison Public Health. All organizations were united in continuing to recommend mandatory masking in schools.

Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, Dr. Pothof noted that strong considerations other than child safety argue in favor of mandatory masking, namely that students in a masked cohort could be educationally advantaged over non-masked cohorts, as unmasked cohorts would be at a substantially greater risk of mandatory quarantines due to covid exposure, while masked students would not. Thus, children who are exposed (in school) to a covid carrier in a mask-optional classroom would be more likely to suffer from educational disruption, especially in light of the district’s decision to effectively end the operation of much of the remote learning capabilities from the 2020-21 school year. Further, mandating masks “decreases the burden of quarantine on staff, students and families.”

In short, mandatory masking is an effective tool at mitigating viral spread, prevents quarantines from disrupting in-person education, and was the unanimous recommendation of the district’s medical ad hoc committee.

Dr. Ranum noted that he had previously recommended making masking optional, and to his credit, acknowledged why his recommendation changed, specifically due to the delta variant and the onset of new data which was previously unavailable in June.

Dr. Wald noted that “it would be not good judgment” to not follow the “congruence” of recommendations by virtually all expert organizations. In particular, she noted that the efficacy of masks is a demonstrable and important part of what the district can and should use. “It’s an annoyance, but it’s not lethal. It’s just an inconvenience.” Further, she noted that non-covid viruses have spiked in the last month, including Respiratory syncytial virus, which she has never seen in August. In short, she continued by stating “I dont see how you can present an argument against masking.” In response to BOE member Brian Hoefer’s question about how to respond to questions of living through other viruses, Dr. Wald noted that people are going to continue to die, specifically stating that “It is such a sadness that we have within our capability completely ending what we’re experiencing now. Between the combination of vaccines and masks, we could have no covid. It’s up to us.”

Sam Kaufmann

Robert McPherson

Please note this post contains graphic language that may be upsetting to BIPOC or LGBT+ individuals

This week, the Waunakee Tribune published a letter from Mr. Phil Willems, a Waunakee Village Board Trustee. I don’t recall ever speaking with Mr. Willems directly, nor do I believe I’ve ever met him in person. Much of what I’ve heard of him is laudatory and positive. It sounds like Mr. Willems has long been a genial and nice person who cares for his community.

However, Mr. Willems is implying I am a liar. I’m sure his letter can be found online or in the print edition of the Tribune. I won’t link to it here.

I asked to be able to respond in a letter of my own and was denied (company policy re: timing of letters). In the end, this is a blessing. Being freed from the Tribune’s 400-word limit helps provide much needed backstory and context.

Prior to the spring election in 2020, I publicly endorsed three candidates running in local elections: Brian Hoefer, Joel Lewis and Robert McPherson. I posted this endorsement on this website and it was linked on Facebook as well.

After my post, I got the following letter.

Should anyone doubt this fact, this is obviously not the letter, but a picture of the letter itself. The exif data on this image should confirm that the picture was taken on April 6, 2020.

I immediately contacted both Robert and Joel (last April) about this letter, given that both were referenced within it. I informed both of them that I did not intend to release this, largely because I did not want to give whoever wrote this any attention. I think Robert was more irritated than Joel, but both agreed to respect my wishes to not publish this letter.

The election then took place. Joel and Robert both lost. I considered the issue done, at least until some in the Village came to disbelieve that incidents of bigotry (such as this one) actually have taken place.

Since that time, to my knowledge, only 4 or 5 individuals have seen this letter. Only two individuals, to my recollection, have ever asked me to see it: Todd Schmitt and Tim Kiefer (I vaguely remember Chris Zellner saying something about seeing it, but I don’t have anything in writing from him). I declined to share it for the same reason stated here. Plus, I didn’t want to create a public record through my position as an elected official. Further, if it had to be brought up anywhere, I expected this letter could be discussed at greater length in a more appropriate forum, such as before the school district’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee.

After Mr. Willems’ letter in the Tribune, and after asking for permission from Mr. McPherson and Mr. Lewis, I am posting it here so that anyone is able to read it. I am loathe to do this, because it goes directly against my previous reasons for not giving it more attention than it deserves: which is none.

I would not be releasing this had Mr. Willems not directly implied that I am lying about it. I derive zero benefit from this. I feel pain at having to re-live this. As should be obvious – I got this letter before the last election, discussed it publicly last summer, long before this current election season, and I previously read at least part of the text of this letter before the Village Board, after some doubt was expressed at its existence. I believe I even censored part of this letter in real-time while reading it, because in my view it wasn’t fair to even get the stink of this nonsense on the individuals indirectly referenced in the letter who were running against Robert and Joel (Erin Moran is presumably the “someone from a nice local family” and Joan Ensign is the “Endres”).

To be blunt: there is nothing illegal in this letter. There is nothing threatening in it. There is absolutely nothing illegal or unlawful about it. I didn’t contact law enforcement. As I said when I read the letter – there is no law against being an asshole.

If there was, I’d probably have spent more time in jail.

However, it is strikingly anti-semitic. It is hardly inclusive or welcoming.

Did I deserve it? I certaintly deserve whatever fire anyone wants to give me, and I’m not one to shy away from an argument. I’ve long said that I think argumentation is a useful path towards progress, as some issues merit uncivil discussion, lest the discussion devolve into something far worse, as was seen earlier this year in Washington D.C. So if someone wants to call me names, I’m fine with that. Neither Robert nor Joel deserved this. I feel a certain amount of guilt for even telling them about it. I could have laughed it off, thrown the letter away, and chalked it up to some moron telling me off. Instead, I shared it with them, and away we went. But as I’ve said before, remaining silent in the face of injustice is little different than engaging in it myself. This is what Dylan wrote about in “The Death of Emmett Till”:

I think it is important to remember why Mr. Willems appears to have made his “closing argument” for re-election to the public about Robert, myself, and this letter: Other people, not only me – have continued to take offense to Mr. Willems’ suggestion that Robert needed to “make more friends” in response to this specific incident. Many individuals are concerned that others on the Village Board have compared themselves while wearing a mask in a community that wasn’t yet ordering them to “what it must feel like to be a black person” or that racism isn’t really an issue in our community, or that acknowledging Black History Month or LGBT Pride Month are not a priority for the community.

I cannot personally speak to whether or not racism is an issue in our community. I don’t personally experience racism in our community directly. But I have friends and colleagues who have. I know of one gentlemen who was harassed by local law enforcement in the last few years for “not appearing to be from around here” and was called “boy”. I know that some individuals have directly told school district administration that they moved to Waunakee because it was a white community. I know one young man who has told me of being called “N-word” more times than he could keep track of while living in Waunakee. Lastly, most of us likely remember the incident of four white children posting an instagram (or tiktok) post of themselves shouting “N****R! N****R! N****R!” outside their car windows online in 2020.

I don’t know Mr. Willems’ heart. I don’t want to think poorly of him, and in the light most charitable, I assume he simply doesn’t understand what it’s like to be treated as an “other”.

Irrelevant to this fact is the fact that he is Jewish. So for better or worse, Robert has experience knowing what it is like to be “the other”. My own experience with being othered is far different.

I have not often shared this, but I was severely bullied for a time during high school. I am not unique in this regard, as millions of children deal with this. However, it was a profoundly difficult experience for me. I quit activities that were important to me. In hindsight, I realize that I had become severely depressed. My junior year of high school remains hazy in my memory, but the most vivid memories come from the days where I ate lunch in a basement bathroom stall, alone, to avoid harassment.

I remember my high school football coach (Coach Gruenewald) calling him into his office. I remember leaving a high school history class (without permission) to walk to the school office in tears to report this same interaction.

The kid who audibly called me a f****t was suspended.

The kids who put the signs on my locker were not.

They didn’t believe me that that someone actually did that. Not being believed that I experienced something painful was the hardest part.

So when I communicate that it is profoundly painful to have Mr. Willems imply I am a liar about this piece of bigoted drivel (that someone presumably in Waunakee did send) I am being sincere. Perhaps if Mr. Willems had talked to me about this experience, he need not have publicly attacked me. I did not make an issue of this letter prior to the 2020 election. I did not seek to make an issue of it now. I have already read the letter because it was already being implied that it did not exist. I am releasing it now so that anyone who cares can read it and see what still exists in our community, whether some of us acknowledge it or not.

This is simply my experience. I shudder to consider how it feels to have one’s experience with bigotry erased by those who do not care.

Public Health Dane County Madison Removes 6 ft Distancing from Health Order

As of March 2nd, Dane County has removed the “6 foot requirement” that effectively disallowed Dane County public schools from re-opening for full days under the county’s restrictions to stem the spread of covid-19.

Order #13, entered on February 8th, had maintained the requirement that districts ensure that “…students and employees with face coverings are at least six (6) feet from others to the greatest extent possible when indoors.” This rule prevented districts like Waunakee from allowing all students to attend for full days.

Order #14, released today, effective on March 10, 2021, removes the 6 foot guidance entirely.

The Waunakee Board of Education will meet on March 8th to address potential changes to the daily school schedule in order to respond to this change. Increased periods of in-person class has long been advocated for by many in the community as children suffer from isolation, parents are burdened with increased childcare costs, disruption in work schedules, and the challenges of virtual school. Opposition to increased in-person education have cited the ongoing prevalence of covid-19 in the community, a lack of vaccination in the community, and pedagogical concerns in seeking to maintain the hybrid schedule.

Waunakee Village Board broadcasts its February 15th closed session on Facebook, Board members up for re-election in April rant against affordable housing in private, may have violated federal law against housing discrimination.

On February 15, the Waunakee Village Board entered into closed session to discuss “deliberating or negotiating the investing of public funds or conducting other specified public business” around the development of workforce housing on West Main Street.

For reasons unknown, the Village continued to broadcast the audio of this closed session online. I personally listened to it live, as did several others. At least one recording of this session was made by the Village, and another recording was made by a private citizen, which is available here.

In summary, members of the Village Board went well beyond the noticed closed session items, disparaging the Cohen-Esrey project, it’s perceived effect on market rates for housing, and bemoaned the influx of poorer residents who would have more children. These comments, which were stated largely by trustees Bill Ranum and Gary Herzberg are concerning. The comments may have violated the federal Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination against individuals based on familial status. Village legal counsel was present on the call. He did not appear to advise the Board that housing discriminating against individuals based on their having children is illegal.

I encourage everyone to listen to this closed session recording in its entirety. It is not a complete recording of the closed session, as the individual who recorded it was unable to capture all audio. The audio ends abruptly when whoever was broadcasting the audio appeared to realize it was being live streamed.

It is my understanding that an open records request for the Village’s recording of this meeting audio has been made to obtain better audio quality. I noted that the video/audio was scrubbed from the Village’s Facebook page almost immediately after the livestream was shut down.

It’s not all bad. Village President Chris Zellner attempted to steer Mr. Herzberg off of his rants about the project and onto items that were appropriately in closed session. He clearly failed, however. Trustees Erin Moran, Kristin Runge, and Nila Frye all spoke candidly in favor of the project, and appeared to stick to appropriate discussions regarding the project.

Amazingly, the Board counted votes in closed session, with Mr. Zellner, Mr. Herzberg, Mr. Willems, and Mr. Ranum all indicating various levels of misgivings about the project. Notably, Mr. Zellner and Mr. Willems both supported the project out of the Village plan commission, yet now appear to have flipped on the issue.

Waunakee must face the fact that elected officials within its government appear to be engaging in closed-door discriminatory behavior to keep certain folks out of the Village.

UPDATE – The Village has since published the closed session audio, which is of a higher quality.

Here is a big takeaway page – Page 18 of the pdf above

Resolution in Recognition of Black History Month 2021

The following will be presented to the Waunakee Community School District Board of Education for consideration on February 8, 2021.

Much language heavily borrowed/taken from a previous US resolution. I’m not re-inventing the wheel here.

As of 5:01pm today, the 60 day period to collect signatures to recall David Boetcher has expired. I confirmed with the WCSD district clerk that no petition, nor any signatures had been presented for certification by today’s deadline.

Per Wisconsin law, the recall petitioners needed to produce 2,612 valid signatures of legal electors residing in the WCSD geographic area, no later than 60 days after the petition was presented (11/19/2020). Sources affiliated to the recall petitioners informed me recently that the recall petitioners had recently obtained less than half of the signatures required. However, they continued to host signing events outside of Wipperfurth’s Piggly Wiggly in Waunakee through mid-January, as well as repeated Facebook posts to sign at the UPS store in Waunakee, as well as running Facebook ads attacking Mr. Boetcher directly (and myself indirectly).

By turning in no signatures, the recall campaign against Mr. Boetcher has officially failed.

He will not be on the Spring 2021 ballot.

I made no secret of my personal disdain for this effort. However, in the spirit of comity and understanding, I want to applaud Dave and those individuals who contributed to the Waunakee Student Financial Assistance Fund during this troubled time. I hope that the recall petitioners, in an effort to show their commitment to the betterment of the district, will consider matching the total donation Dave obtained during the recall period.

Coupled with donations that came in recently through the Classmunity site and Dave’s matched donations, nearly $4000 will have been raised for needy students and families in the district. A match by those folks trying to recall him would be powerful indeed.

Click the picture below for a link to donate! (picture is what I found with a google image search for “adorable kid fundraising png”)

I noted (let’s be honest, I complained) that there were few public voices outside of the recall leaders who put out any written statements regarding the recall effort. I asked the six Waunakee Village Board of Trustees candidates running for election in April 2021 for their opinions on the issue. As of my posting, four replied and I’ll supplement this post if others care to opine. (Update @ 8am 1/19/21, Joe Z replied, added below).

“These are challenging times, and the only way we can get through them and remain a strong community is by working together to find creative solutions to the problems we encounter, whether it’s creating an annual budget, reviewing development projects, or reopening schools.”

Sam Kaufmann

“The recall efforts are disappointing. I am a supporter of David and his work as Board of Education president. He has not done anything to be recalled for. I wished those parents would have put in as much effort towards other initiatives, such as educating residents on COVID-19 prevention measures so we could have kids in school sooner, which is what they wanted ultimately. I was sad to see them outside UPS in town investing time and money on the recall, knowing there are so many other places where their time and money is actually needed.”

Angie Ramos

“As I stated at the beginning of the recall, it was divisive and targeted an elected official who was showing real leadership at a time where others in the community choose to remain silent on stopping the spread of COVID. Fortunately, Dave continued to show leadership by using the opportunity to raise funds for the Student Financial Assistance Fund, which will be matched, raising over $2700 for the fund. The community really rallied around the cause to show that Waunakee can turn an ugly situation in to an equitable win for all, and move forward as we continue to navigate the pandemic together.”

Robert McPherson

“My opinion is that I do not believe in do-overs. You elect someone to represent you, unless they commit a criminal act, respect them for doing that which they think is best. That said my children have been out of Waunakee schools for 28, 32, and 34 years. They got an excellent education.”

Phil Willems

“I don’t support the recall itself. I think Dave and the rest of the school board have been in a very difficult position throughout the pandemic, and I believe the decisions being made are what each member believes are in the best interest of the school district as a whole.”

Joe Zitzelsberger

As we move forward together as a nation no longer led by a narcissistic bully who revels in open cruelty, dishonesty and hypocrisy, let us hope that we can have another go at peace, love and understanding.

UPDATE

The “Recall Gang of 12” (or someone representing them) decided to email the BOE on 1/19/21. I’ll give them the last word and people can judge it for themselves. Their email speaks for itself:

————————————————

Dear Waunakee School Board, 

We as members of Families for Waunakee School Excellence are reaching out to you as concerned parents for our children and school district. It was unfortunate that we had to move forward with a recall, as it is against our very nature. However, in this process we confirmed what we knew to be true – we are not alone. Nearly 2,000 community members signed the recall petition, uniting their voices in a call for change. 

This was not a political initiative. This was not about a single issue. This recall effort was based on community members believing that Mr. Boetcher failed to adhere to his role and responsibility as a school board member, especially one in a leadership role. Although the recall did not reach the required number of signatures, the voice of these community members should not be dismissed. If you have not already done so, we urge you to review the materials on our website including the video examples. Here you will clearly see the basis for the recall, what the community is concerned about and the change they are asking for. 

1.  Advocate for our students. Believe in them and their families. Do not continuously distrust or doubt them or try to control their activities outside of school.

2. Model appropriate behavior in social media. Sign a Digital Citizenship contract in the same way all district staff and children are required to do. Community members should not be mocked, insulted or shamed on social media by elected officials. This behavior wouldn’t be tolerated from our staff or our children. It should not be tolerated by our school board leader or any of its members. 

3. Address mental health, absenteeism, and the current instructional model in Waunakee as an urgent matter. 

4. Trust in the superintendent, administrators, parents, and students.

5. Communicate with ALL community members.  People want to know their voices are being heard, especially in matters that directly concern their children.

Even without the required signatures to affect an early election, nearly 2,000 community members have spoken. These community members expect that you listen to their concerns and will be watching to see how you respond. This is your opportunity to demonstrate to the community that you have heard their concerns and are taking action to reset the leadership of the School Board to better align with the interests of the entire community. 

Families for Waunakee School Excellence

Kris & Jeff  Beutel

Susan & Jason Brown

Katie & Jeff Dotzler

Molly & Andrew Miller

Kim & Tom  Raemisch

Tara & Jeff Swalve