KUSD Tremper High School Website
KCE told you on May 1, 2024, that a Kenosha Tremper High School Teacher named Markise Jackson was under criminal investigation and was allowed to resign in lieu of termination on April 26, 2024.
Today, KCE received Jackson’s personnel file and the police report relating to his conduct. The behavior allegedly displayed by Jackson seems eerily similar to that of the fired and criminally charged Christian Enwright.
The inappropriate behavior was reported to KUSD on October 9, 2023 and KUSD did nothing. More inappropriate behavior was reported on April 22, 2024 and Markise was asked to resign, instead of being fired. The embattled KUSD HR Director, Kevin Neir, was involved in both sets of allegations. He decided against any disciplinary action for the first report.
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Here is a summary of the allegations from both complaints within Mr. Jackson’s personnel file:
On Friday April 19th it was a 15-year-old students’ boyfriend’s birthday and she brought a gift to school that she was going to give him. Mr Jackson seemed upset at that fact, because she was previously upset while in his class because her and her boyfriend were recently having an argument. Mr Jackson asked why she was dressed so nice and then said she looked “good” in those jeans. She told him that after school she was going to dinner with her boyfriend’s family. Mr Jackson asked the child “is he going to bang you afterwards?” which made her very uncomfortable. Jackson told the girl that “he doesn’t deserve you” and “fuck him.” The girl retrieved the gift that Jackson confiscated that was for her boyfriend, but found the gift opened, the tissue paper ripped, and the balloons detached from the gift.
Mr Jackson was accused of giving a high-school girl unwanted shoulder rubs and she reported to the district that he consistently flirted with her. He would ask her if her boyfriend minded when he gave her shoulder rubs.
It was reported by at least two girls that Jackson would (in their opinion) intentionally sit down with his legs open so that people could view his crotch area.
Another student said that Jackson had ” incredibly inappropriate behavior.” She feels as though Mr. Jackson only calls out girls. She thinks it’s weird how he acts with other students, “no other teacher acts like that.”
When one girl told Mr Jackson not to touch her, he told her he would give her an “f on her test.” Mr. Jackson also placed ice cubes down the back of a female student’s shirt. This was captured on camera.
The assistant principal at Tremper personally witnessed Mr. Jackson inappropriately grabbing a girl on her shoulder at the lunch room.
Many of the witnesses were hesitant to cooperate with KUSD’s investigation for fear of Jackson finding out. Ultimately, Kenosha Police were called to investigate. A detective was assigned and began to sift through the DCFS reports. Unfortunately, prosecution could not be sought because the mother of the victim told police that she didn’t want any police action or prosecution. Cases are extremely difficult to prosecute when the victim, or in this case, the victim’s family do not cooperate. Many times, families decide against the traumatizing ordeal of being a victim in the criminal justice system.
(File Photos by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye) (Knecht, KUSD)
Unsurprisingly, neither Tremper Principal Steve Knecht, Communications Director Tanya Ruder, nor Superintendent Jeff Weiss would tell KCE why Jackson was allowed to resign. They didn’t say why the school didn’t alert the students’ parents of the teacher’s conduct.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, this teacher has been licensed since October 20, 2023 as a “short term substitute.”
One mother told KCE that she was upset because she was lead to believe that the teacher was fired and Principal Steve Knecht didn’t tell parents about the alleged conduct. She’s extremely upset about what she calls a “complete lack of transparency.” She also wanted to know why the teacher was allowed to resign instead of being fired for the alleged conduct.
A student at Tremper told KCE that he believed this teacher has a job already in a new school district. “He was social media friends with most students, gave most students his cell phone number for texting, and used to send us DM videos of him vaping.”
92 Responses
What is going on with KUSD?? Is nobody looking out for the students, helping teachers get off the hook by hiding teachers or letting them resign instead of being charged??? Thanks for wasting our tax dollars!!!
Don’t blame KUSD….it’s the whole fucking state run school system. They are all kid fuckers. Happy demon month fags!
You should get counseling for your projection issues.
Ok, groomer
Is this Christian Enwright ?
No, DO blame the KUSD and hold them accountable for their actions. And the same with your pathetic actions.
That’s entirely inappropriate
“Mandated Child Abuse and Neglect Reporters”
“Mandated Reporters are required by law to report child abuse and/or neglect to a county or law enforcement. In addition, Mandated Reporters are required to report threats of school violence to law enforcement.”
The list of who the law mandates to report is long but includes:
School teachers
School administrators
School counselors
School employees not otherwise specified in this list
https://dcf.wisconsin.gov/cps/mandatedreporters#:~:text=Wisconsin%20law%20(48.981(2)),duties%20has%20been%20threatened%20with
Ah yes! More taxpayer dollars will do the trick! More bureaucrats, more DPI contracts, more mandatory reporters! Meanwhile, we already spend more on state-sponsored and taxpayer-sanctioned indoctrination than any civilization in history….but throw more money at it, that’ll do the trick.
Teachers receive a paycheck.
If teachers are indeed responsible for reporting abuse why would that cost extra?
The family of the alleged victim—make the phone call:
Michael Karp – Attorney, Trial Lawyers of Wisconsin
Someone at KUSD needs to be held responsible.
Make sure you tell them their daughter contacted him after she accused him of this . Tell her to sit her fast ass down
Don’t worry if someone has to go they will have a big bonus with there last check just because that’s how kusd works.
Mr. Jackson had the wisdom to resign.
Wow, what a hero. Wisdom to know when to escape after being caught preying on young girls. 👍
Y’all definitely don’t know what’s going on they have no proof and there were witnesses. Plus the student accusing of this contacted Mr.Jackson after this accusation hmmmmmm . Y’all quick to accuse especially this reporter with his no life having ass. Privileged people I tell ya.
It’s in his personal file dumbass.
Pedo Jackson seems a little upset that he got caught, lol.
I can’t really understand your statement. Can you try to use better English?
English Mother Fucker, do you speak it!?
do you know how to write it?
MOTHER FUCKER!!!!
Are you a KUSD graduate? If so, your comment is a perfect reason to choice out.
Yikes— grammar counts!
Innocent people do not resign, especially with these types of allegations. Just saying.
He was forced to resign by the school district. This happened during the whole Christian Enwright situation and the district felt that this was the best outcome to protect the district and the teacher……. Nothing was proven to be true….. But it’s over now and let’s return to our normal programming
nothing was proven???…?? he’s being charged now so rethink that.
Lies
Christian was charged with 22 counts
Hmmmm. How dark is your sun tan?
Way to support a pedophile. You sick fuck
Duz yooz beez black ?
??
Thanks, Kevin, for publishing the document above. This time KUSD did an OK job of getting rid of him. The personnel file is flagged that he was resigned in lieu of termination which is an awfully damning label. In fact, it’s worse that termination in some ways because people have been canned for bullshit reasons and sometimes even the employer or supervisor is actually at fault. Plus it saved taxpayer money, achieved a final result and spared the witnesses from testifying. It’s a win.
I normally support your articles, but I cannot and will not support this one. I also donate to your services faithfully but this is just beyond ridiculous.
Why are you still reporting this, if there were no police involvement at the request of the mother than that means it wasn’t that serious and she didn’t feel he was grooming her daughter. I see the situation as a male teacher encouraging a female student gone wrong. I’m sure he learned his lesson but leave this man alone.
Ok, groomer. you get the rope too
You sound stupid…. You’re talking about hanging people, don’t hide behind the name of “ White Straight Male “ now you committing a hate crime
Hey Amanda, are you going to get banged later? Yeah, it’s not so appropriate now……is it?
Hate crimes don’t exist, groomer
good ‘cus I hate stupid people and you win the prize fucktard
Oh so a teacher inquiring about a students sex life is okay? How about touching them- that’s fine? You must be a pedo yourself if you find those acceptable.
No, I’m a teacher that understands allegations and proven facts are two different things….. We don’t know that this man asked about her sex life, just because she said so, we automatically believe her. Also, since when is touching a student non sexually is a crime?? You all are ready to stone this man without nothing but proven to be true. The mother herself said she didn’t want police involvement. If it was that serious and deep like the Christian Enwright case, she would’ve pressed charges.
As a parent, I don’t want a teacher touching my child unless they are choking or need to be saved from going into traffic. Ice down a female’s shirt is unacceptable. A fire-able offense? No, but concerning nonetheless.
A male teacher putting ice down a female student’s shirt absolutely should be a fire-able offense.
Why would I let a teacher rub my kids shoulders rather yet talk about banging? Sicko
We don’t know if that’s true….. Society is so messed up. Kids are allowed to say anything and ruin someone’s career…….
Curious if you supported the pussy hat wearing #MeToo movement? I hope not, if you don’t take a bunch of young girls seriously seriously.
What is his start date at RUSD?
He’s now running a childcare center in Grayslake IL and families have no idea about his criminal record.
He has NO CRIMINAL RECORD!!!!! LEAVE THIS MAN ALONE
Omg he is??? That’s disturbing. Not to mention I would not feel comfortable with a man watching my little ones. Men just aren’t fit for childcare roles- they aren’t nurturing or as maternal to other people’s kids. (Let the hate comments begin…)
Oh so now men aren’t nurturing enough to care for children, that’s stupid….. I have personally know Mr. Jackson for years and I would trust him with my life and my children’s life…… My family loves this man and all that he does for our education system….. If these things are true then yes, he’s wrong and it’s a learning curve, but firing him was a-bit extreme…… TEENAGE GIRLS are cruel and don’t always tell the truth. And it’s a race thing as well…. Look how long it took the district to fire Christian Enwright (white male) but fired Mr. Jackson 3-4 days after the allegations based on hearsay….. I hope he sues and fight this. I’m sure that they’re hundreds of parents that would support him, I’m one of them…..
Learning curve? The district didn’t fire him, they let him resign..Enright was fired. How is that for white privilege?
How, for example the district knew about this and did nothing (same as Jackson) then the district put Enwright on leave after parents were upset, Jackson was also put on leave pending the investigation. Enwrights district investigation tooks months, Jackson’s took days. Even after all the proof was there, the district still chose not to fire him and called everyday to get him back in the classroom. No proof against Jackson was proven to be true besides he touched a female student on the shoulder. Jackson was asked to resigned after 3-4 days in lieu of termination, meaning if he didn’t, he would’ve got fired. Jackson did the smart thing in resigning because they had already made up in their mind the outcome. That’s how it’s white privileged and I’m a white mother in support of Jackson
You are stupid.
Okay, I can be stupid that’s fine. But facts are facts. Prove to me that what I said was wrong? You can’t because it’s all true. The district got rid of Mr. Jackson because he was black with allegations against him that once again wasn’t proven to be true. What happened to all is innocent until proven guilty??
So what’s in his personal file is fake?
Thank goodness you told us you are white. That changes everything- you’re so heroic!
If he is so innocent and such an upstanding teacher why didnt he fight it?? Why resign and let the optic be that he was guilty of something? The fact is that KUSD has a problem with pedophile teachers.
How do we know that he didn’t??? Yes I agree that KUSD does have a problem, but this guy is not one of them…… He was forced to resigned. Anyone can lie and ruin someone’s career
It’s on video him putting ice in a kid’s shirt
Where’s this video at? Or are we just taking the author word for it who is known for lying and making statements that aren’t true
Why did he resign?
He didn’t, the school forced him to do so
Why? Sounds like they had a good deal of evidence— evidence that you have a right to access —- can you handle the truth?
Kusd should really look at Steve Knecht
How many child teacher relationships has he been in involved in hiring the teacher that gets in trouble? Bullen , Indian Trail, Tremper. He he really fit to be a principal???
There’s rumors he had sexual relations with someone high up in KUSD to get the job. They’re just rumors from what i understand. But I remember a time where he blatantly ignored reprimanding students (2 brothers) who recreated the George Floyd murder on video and were relentlessly racist to other students. The brothers were not kicked out of NHS nor punished in anyway because daddy’s a lawyer and plays golf with the principal and mommy cried “defamation lawsuit” despite her brain dead sons posting their hate crime to the literal internet for all to see.
When will you people understand that anything paid for by the government and ran by the government is just bureaucratic politics and pencil pushing. It’s a game of “who knows who” in a town like Kenosha (hence why Enright was so protected and asked to return to work AND started as a first year teacher at a school like KTEC [a job veteran teachers would want] in the first place??). Bad people will always be protected in a society that operates on the same principles as the mafia. It’s always about who you know, not what you know.
You don’t become the principal of a major high school without kissing some ass and doing some underhanded things to get there. You don’t get on the board without money and corruption and kissing babies. You can’t pin blame to one person when the whole system is the problem. But blow your lungs out trying!
As a former public education staff, my children are homeschooled.
When the taxpayers are footing the bill it’s pretty hard to expect anyone running the show to actually get fired and/or lose benefits.
Generally no matter how bad the fuck up things they will be allowed to resign often with a confidential pay and benefit package.
Milwaukee Pubic Schools just had the big one after the Feds suspended a program due to lack of accountability.
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/education/2024/06/03/mps-board-says-there-is-ongoing-investigation-after-missing-reports/73954543007/#:~:text=Milwaukee%20Superintendent%20Keith%20Posley%20announced,jeopardize%20funding%20to%20the%20district.
I’d be curious to know the last name of these kids whose daddy was a lawyer….?
God…. Who could he be banging….. it’s all soft… middle aged white males at the top. Unless you talk about the former super, the former interim super, and the communications chick.
None of them seem like a prize.
He was given a highly positive letter of recommendation , and a tube of lube for his next job.
As a teacher at KUSD that worked with this man and has seen groomers in action and was a victim once many years ago, I do not believe Jackson was a groomer at all, nor do I believe he had creepy intentions with any of the students. From what I could see, he got too comfortable with the kids and forgot his teacher character. He forgot these kids are in fact kids- not peers or young adults (they also want to be seen and respected as grown ups really bad, and with the internet they learn how to get along fine in adult worlds and contexts. MANY adults would find themselves guilty of this ‘forgetting their actual age’ dilemma too, whether you think so or not. We see it happen all the time). He did make some critical mistakes. NEVER add students on social media, NEVER let students know you’re a real person outside school, keep it all about their education and when they need someone to talk to immediately send them to the counselor so that you do not find yourself in a position like this. It doesn’t matter if the student contacted him after these reports or if she acted correctly or not- she’s a minor and we can’t assign any blame to her. Jackson isn’t an evil pedo, he was a naive and inexperienced young male working with teens for the first time with minimal guidance and made some very inappropriate mistakes. Should he resign? Yes. Should he be crucified? No, it’s sick and cruel.
From another post:
“As a teacher at KUSD that worked with this man and has seen groomers in action and was a victim once many years ago,…………….”
So the question is: Are teachers and staff at KUSD considered “Mandated Reporters” under Wisconsin law?
If so is there some sort of documented training?
Yes to mandated reporting. Sometimes to proper documented training. You have to back out and look at the big picture here- we have a national teacher shortage. Schools are in a desperate position to fill roles while veteran teachers retire and there’s not enough young new teachers pursuing the career to fill vacancies. When schools or any orgs are desperate, shortcuts are taken and things slip through the cracks. Who are the end users? Students (parents) and teachers. So ultimately students are the ones impacted and potentially put in danger (teachers are too I.e. violent behavior, I was punched in the stomach while pregnant once, etc.). So how do we avoid hiring inadequate adults desperately and make this role appealing enough to get qualified, educated, safe staff in a world where students have exponentially worsening behavior, technology addictions, learning deficiencies, etc. ?? You have to pay to make it worth it. It’s an increasingly difficult job, and it’s not enough anymore to serve as a calling. But no one wants to pay teachers more, in fact they are usually the villains in the court of public opinion. It’s a complex and multifaceted system, this public education dilemma. So short of burning it down and starting over, privatizing education (thereby excluding many parents who rely on free education for their kids because low income), or making it the parents problem to educate their own kids, adding more money for resources and paychecks is one of few viable solutions.
Posted comment:
“When schools or any orgs are desperate, shortcuts are taken and things slip through the cracks.”
Yes, shortcuts are taken that is obvious.
The standard excuse put forward by public schools is a shortage on money but it would be pretty hard to show a public school district where money has improved test scores—RUSD with it’s Billion Dollar referendum is a good example as is MPS when you look at cost per student and the fact that recently it seem MPS has been deficient in it’s financials.
Could it be the liberal permissive ideology pushed forward by teachers and administrators is responsible for the abject failure of public education? Current entry level teachers are a product of that dysfunctional system “where shortcuts are taken and things slip through the cracks.”
Most people who care are done with accepting excuses.
The teachers are overpaid. They get all the sweet union bonuses and have summers off. I’m tired of their whining. Stop overpaying the admins. Take their money and give it to the teachers. How about we pay on performance not tenure union bs. That’ll weed out the garbage.
Also several teachers told admin back in October what students were saying about Jackson. It wasn’t until one of admin’s favorite students was the subject of potential harm that they finally took things seriously. Thats likely because there was no one else to fill that role and it would’ve caused all science classes to go up in volume with all the displaced kids which in itself creates more problems. You can’t manage a classroom of 35+ kids unless they’re all perfectly behaved LOL
Is this Christian Enwright ?
No it’s not
When you forget you’re a teacher- it’s time to go. Kids don’t need to hear teachers personal feelings, preferences, advice on personal issues, etc. Teachers should teach – that’s all.
The HR staff might want to start doing better background checks on the people that are under consideration for employment. Maybe they need to do some more testing of the candidates that might show a tendency towards this behavior before offering a position. This might be a better way than exposing kids and waiting for law suits.
Good luck. In a world where victims rarely want to come forward and are blamed and shamed when they do, many perps predisposed to sex crimes will never have a record and there’s no way to tell. KUSD employees do undergo serious background checks, just as most government positions do. Our judicial system needs a revamp to a stop these kinds of things before they begin.
They do good background checks….they just don’t care what shows up on them for the most part.
It’s mind blowing to see any support for this teachers actions. DM’ing kids outside of school should be a fireable offense. The fact is, this teacher put himself into too many bad situations and was extremely lucky to have worked in a school district that doesn’t protect kids nor holds anyone accountable.
Why are thoughtful comments questioning some “facts” in this article being deleted?
Until we get rid of the liberal board we will continue to find these cover ups. Unfortunately liberals are more likely to lack morals and are for some sick reason accepting of this sickness that is running rampant in our society. Doesn’t help that Joe Biden and his son Hunter are both pedophiles and sexual deviants.
I’m the parent who brought this to the school’s attention in October. My daughter was not a victim of his actions, but is friends with the student who was. The initial “investigation” was very brief (maybe 2 days). She was devastated when nothing was done and thought they just didn’t believe her or that she was making it up.
She refused to go to his class anymore, and I didn’t blame her.