(Cell Phone Photo By Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Many parents at Kenosha School of Technology Enhanced Curriculum (KTEC) are happy with news today released by Kenosha Unified School District (KUSD) superintendent Jeff Weiss. Many Tremper High School parents, however, are not happy. Scott Hodges, the Principal of KTEC who allowed the inappropriate behavior of Christian Enwright, who stands criminally accused of grooming a middle-schooler, has been demoted from the position of Principal to Assistant Principal and is moving to Tremper High School. Even though he is being demoted, his salary will remain the same, per a KUSD spokesperson.
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
KTEC parents expressed their joy after reading the news from Jeff Weiss in an email sent today at 1:00 p.m., saying in part, “I want to share that Mr. Hodges will take on a new role as the assistant principal of Tremper High School and will take over responsibilities on Monday, July 15…We understand change can be unsettling, and we greatly appreciate your understanding and patience during this transition. Please know we are here to support you and your child every step of the way. If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.”
In an eerily similar email, sent to Tremper parents by Tremper Principal Steve Knecht, he wrote in part:
“I’d like to share that Mr. Scott Hodges, currently KTEC principal, will be the new assistant principal of Tremper High School. Mr. Hodges brings a wealth of experience, having served as an elementary teacher middle school assistant principal, and principal. His years of experience with KUSD further strengthen his ability to support your child and their educational journey.
We understand change can be unsettling, and we greatly appreciate your understanding and patience during this transition period please know that we are here to support you and your child every step of the way. If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.”
(Kenosha Police)
Indeed, the news was very unsettling to many parents at Tremper. Most alarming, is the fact that Christian Enwright’s victim of grooming, who’s conduct went unfettered by Hodges, will be attending Tremper later this year. “This just goes to show how tone deaf KUSD is under the leadership of Jeff Weiss. He actually sent Hodges to the same school where the 12-year-old student who was groomed will be attending as a student. The grooming could have been prevented by Hodges. He is now again responsible for this girl’s safety,” said a Tremper Parent of an incoming Freshman. “What an unsettling decision Weiss made. I guess the board of education doesn’t seem to care either.”
In an almost 200-page report released to KCE by the Kenosha Unified School District, the public is learning more about a groomer teacher named Christian Enwright. Enwright was fired from KTEC and criminally charged for what a group of attorneys call “manipulate[ing], emotionally abus[ing], and communicat[ing] with [his victim] for sexual gratification and attempt[] to groom [her] for sex.” According to the report, Enwright acted inappropriately with “Student A,” “Student B,” “Student C,” and other female students. “Student A” was the student for which Enwright was criminal charged, named “Holly.” KUSD never notified Kenosha Police and refused to cooperate with Kenosha Police for a long period of time. In fact, HR Director Kevin Neir, who authored the report, was fervently trying to put Enwright back into the classroom.
Several parents of other underage middle-schoolers contacted the district and even Enwright’s co-workers – other teachers sounded the alarm years ago. For example, former Principal Angela Andersson received complaints about Enwright getting too handsy with female students. Instead of escalating the complaints, she told Enwright “You’re an attractive male teacher, stick to high fives and fist bumps.” Enwright told several other teachers about this conversation. Enwright told KUSD that this conversation happened, but ironically complained that by Andersson’s calling him “attractive” was “inappropriate.”
When Scott Hodges took over as principal, teachers and parents were concerned. He had never been a classroom teacher – he only taught Legos. Now he would be in charge of a large numbers of teachers. Hodges would get at least a half-dozen serious complaints about Enwright. These complaints came from parents of female students, teachers, and even students themselves. Still, he seemed to do nothing. Hodges was mysteriously missing for days at a time and the assistant principal, Joe Kosman, picked up all of the slack. For example, a child brought a BB gun to school and Hodges couldn’t be found to get involved. Kosman also had to handle discipline issues from Washington D.C., while being responsible for the class trip. Hodges thought that an Alaskan cruise was an important thing to do near the end of the year.
One parent emailed Hodges early in the 2023 school year about Enwright giving a young female student a long hug while in the crosswalk area. Again, Hodges took no action. Hodges instead told KUSD that he relayed to Enwright that “[he was] making sure that we understand, and are aware of, the concern of male teachers hugging middle-school students. I reminded him that regardless of the intent or circumstances, you need to be careful when hugging middle-school-aged students because of the misconceptions that can occur. I told him to try and avoid hugging if [he] can, but I know that sometimes students get you when you aren’t looking. I said the best way to approach these situations is to side hug or fist bump.”
Multiple teachers that worked closely with Enwright were interviewed for this investigation. All of their stories matched each other’s. One teacher told KUSD that Mr. Enwright hugged students too long, was alone with female students giving them advice, and had multiple students emailing him while he was on paternity leave. She also told KUSD that Mr. Enwright had a picture of Holly and him together on his bulletin board, alongside pictures with him and his wife and his then-unborn child.
Hodges’ predecessor, Angie Andersson, selected Hodges to be the school’s assistant principal despite not only lacking classroom teaching experience, but also lacking administrator experience. This move caught the ire of parents and other teachers.
Hodges is not liked by his teachers. Surveys sent to the teachers show consistently that Hodges isn’t liked, or respected by his teachers.
Hodges is accused of telling his assistant principal, Jennifer Seveirt, not to cooperate in the investigation of teacher Christian Enwright grooming the small child. Hodges, himself, is accused of knowing about the grooming and being told by multiple parents about Enwright’s “off” behavior. He has never responded to KCE to explain himself. Seveirt is not being permitted to work at KTEC next year.
The KUSD investigator asked Enwright why so many kids seemed to be in his classroom all the time. Enwright said he wished he knew and that he tries hard to keep them out. He stated that students usually come before class begins or after or during his prep time and that he has tried closing his door and turning off the light but they come through the next-door teacher’s room to his classroom anyway. He said it is unavoidable. The KUSD investigator asked him if ever told students to come in a different way to avoid being seen on camera. He stated he may have said that in a joking way but did not remember.
A fellow teacher seemed to be at wits’ end as she has reported Enwright to the principal many times and hadn’t seen anything change. She wrote in an email to Hodges:
“I just wanted to let you know that there have been several issues with our eighth-grade female students going to Christian’s room during our classes and during his teaching hours. For instance, today an eighth-grade girl was gone from math class for over 10 minutes. When she return, I had a conversation with the student and she stated that she went to talk to Mr. Enwright about personal issues. When I asked what she did in his class, she said that she sat at his desk because he was teaching. I had a conversation with her about the importance of us knowing where she is for emergencies and that she cannot interrupt other classes. I also stated that she should be going to [the school counselor] to talk about personal issues. This is not the first time we have had this issue with this student and the location she was in. This is also not the only female student that is doing this. Every time there is a sub in the students’ rooms or they were in “specials”, many of them are going to [Enwright’s] classroom. I understand that we as educators, should be creating bonds and relationships with our students but I feel like this is crossing a line. As a parent and as a fellow educator, this is very bothersome. I have reported this to [the assistant principal] and he has assured many staff that he has reported it to you. With this continuing to happen, I want to make you aware that these behaviors are continuing to create a problem during the instructional hours of the day.”
Still, Hodges took no action. Then a parent of one of the other students being treated inappropriately by Enwright sent Enwright messages on Facebook Messenger:
A parent of “Jenna” told Enwright in a Facebook message that “I don’t know how we can create a stronger boundary for her with you, but I want to seek your thoughts and without her knowing.”
To which Enwright responded, “I am 100% on the same page as you I even told her that it makes me uncomfortable that she sometimes literally won’t leave my room when I’m asking her to.”
Jenna’s mom responded, “Great, so I don’t know how to form these boundaries with her. It is simply saying she can only say hi or step in your room once a day or maybe only talk after school, I don’t know what it looks like. Do you feel comfortable telling her this boundary?”
To which and write responded, “100% yes.” Strangely, Enwright asked the parent to start the conversation with Jenna so it’s not coming from him. Enwright then told Jenna’s parent that he has tried setting boundaries but cannot enforce them.
Another teacher told KUSD that she has witnessed Enwright give hugs to his students, mostly female students, beginning in 2022. She also witnessed a time when Enwright took multiple female students into the back room of his classroom and closed both doors to have a private conversation with them. When she entered the classroom, a student loudly shouted, “Mr. Enwright’s got that child riz! He’s back there alone with two girls!” She also told KUSD that throughout the year there have been several situations where female students would be signing out an E-Hall pass to use the restroom or to go the library and then end up stopping in Christian Enwright’s room to receive a hug or stay and talk with him. During these times, Christian Enwright had a class that he was teaching and the female students are supposed to be in an academic class. She said that there are two specific 8th grade females that visited his classroom more frequently than others. She also witnessed Enwright having one-on-one conversations with students multiple times.
Another teacher confirmed that Enwright wasn’t setting proper boundaries and that he told students to go in through a different entrance to his classroom so that the cameras aren’t always showing them visiting his room. Enwright also admitted to allowing female students to wear his clothing.
KUSD was able to locate a plethora of photos with Enwright and Holly. He was asked why his face was always so close to hers and he didn’t have an answer.
KCE has spoken to more than a half dozen teachers, staff, and students at KTEC that say they have lost faith in Principal Scott Hodges. Only a handful of students shook Hodges’ hand during the eighth grade graduation ceremony last week. One teacher told KCE that Hodges was “insufferably tone deaf” by allowing Leah Enwright, the wife of Christian, to hand out the diplomas. Leah had called this author and Holly liars multiple times during the school year. She didn’t show up to the ceremony. He also told parents in his commencement speech, “Don’t trust everything you read on the internet,” seemingly referring to this publication.
At least 15 teachers and staff aren’t coming to KTEC next year in a mass exodus. Most that have spoken to KCE have said that they can’t work for a Principal like Hodges who doesn’t support teachers or students.
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
In November of 2020, then-principal and assistant principal Scott Hodges pitched a “KTEC High School” to the Kenosha Unified School District review committee, comprised of 15 district administrators. The committee of 15 wrote a scathing opinion report about just how terrible the idea was, and denied it. One of the committee members wrote:
“Finally, I will point out that I was put off by the comment that KTEC plans to seek an outside authorizer should KUSD decline their proposal. They admit this program could and likely will be hurtful to existing programs, but if KUSD decides it is not in their best interest to approve it, they are going to go ahead anyway. Some thoughts:
- Can a KUSD staff member (s) co-lead a KUSD school and a non-kusd school at the
same time? Would we allow that as a district? - Where is this thing going to go? It is going to take at least a MS size building. If
KUSD does not offer that, where will it go? Is KTEC going to ask to use KUSD carry
over dollars to help fund a building? (If they are authorized by the state?) - It is clear that a lot of time and thought went into this proposal. Now, there is a plan
fully developed by a staff of people paid for through KUSD funding. Does that not make
the plan KUSD’s intellectual property?”
Andersson and Hodges decided to “take their ball and go home,” almost literally. They applied for a grant and started “KTEC High School,” which is being sued and is failing miserably. KCE will be authoring a months-long investigative piece about the High School soon.
Hodges accepted a job at the non-KUSD “KTEC High School”, which is explicitly prohibited in his contract and work-rules manual. Hodges, in addition to his six-figure salary, was also taking secret checks from KTEC High School, a non-KUSD school.
Hodges won’t tell us how many checks for $4,300 he accepted and KTEC High School won’t either. On April 13, 2022, then-superintendent Bethany Ormseth sent Hodges a letter making one thing very clear. Stop working for KTEC High School or be fired.
“It is the district’s understanding that you may have been working with and/or compensated for assisting Angela Andersson and others, in either the planning process, writing of grants, and/or developing curriculum while using district resources in an effort to support the expansion. It is also the district’s understanding that you may have been completing these tasks during KUSD work hours… You must cease all work on behalf of KTEC high school independent charter School. If you are unable to abide by these rules, we would ask that you resign your KUSD position immediately. If you do not resign and you continue your work on KTEC High School independent charter school expansion, KUSD will consider you in breach of your employment contract and will pursue termination of your employment contract with KUSD.”
On October 19, 2022, Hodges sent Kevin Neir a letter, apparently upset that this letter was in his personnel file saying:
“I am officially requesting that the “breach of employment contract” letter issued to me on April 13th 2022 by the superintendent be expunged for my personnel file. I would assume since my professional career was threatened, this was a form of progressive discipline, and proper protocol should have been followed.”
Hodges request was denied. Many parents at KTEC think that Hodges is a pretentious and arrogant charlatan.
KCE reached out to Jeff Weiss, who as usual had “no comment.”
46 Responses
That Really Solved the Problem !!!!
NOT !
Just Fire Them All !
I would rather fight a claim of incorrect firing someone than have to now know we need to monitor this guy.
But I guess we need to be “monitoring/investgating” almost everyone. Sad but true
Conspiracy ? Negligence ?
This guy needs to go.
If not jail, at least down the road !
He failed to report, and he is considered a mandatory reporter by Wisconsin law. This is a failure
by the Superintendent.
He wasn’t charged with anything, still keeps his $111K base salary and as asst principal has
less responsibility and more time to be peeping even more ‘mature’ young adults.
So what’s the story about the AP Jennifer, who isn’t being allowed to return to KUSD?
Per the email that Mr. Knecht sent out to parents, Ms Folkers will be taking on the role of principle at Grewenow
She is working for KUSD next year at another school. Her position at KTEC was eliminated due to decreases in enrollment. She had the least seniority.
Curious George needs to be more than demoted…… A public flogging seems to be in order
Send Hodges to jail too!! He should not be moving to Tremper and damn sure shouldn’t have the same salary. What a shame on KUSD.
AP is going to another school due to downsizing. She’s an amazing individual!
Agree , Seivert is awesome
If not cooperating with a police investigation into potential sexual misconduct involving a child is awesome, you’re in the minority.
Take note Kenosha. Fuxk up in KUSD and move up. Fucken joke
Not sure how accurate this story is, Sievert has been hired as the Dean of Students at Washington Middle School.
She’s still at KUSD
Right, but you should update your article. Your statement “Seveirt is not being permitted to work at KTEC next year.” is severely misleading. Lot’s of people aren’t “permitted” to work at KTEC since it closed!
KTEC is not closing. You really make yourself look stupid by saying this even though you’re too ashamed to use your name.
Kevin knows more than you, as do I!! Washington Middle School is closing, so she obviously is not going to be there!!!
I believe it will still be called Washington Middle School when they move into the EBSOLA building. I may be wrong though.
I remember when I went to McKinley JR high years ago, Steve Knecht was the PE coach there he wouldbelittleand berate kidswho were overweight and stare at the “cheerleading” team we had. He is just as much of a scum bag as hodges. Two pedophile in one pod.
I remember when I went to McKinley JR high years ago, Steve Knecht was the PE coach there he would belittle and berate kids who were overweight and stare at the “cheerleading” team we had. He is just as much of a scum bag as hodges. Two pedophile in one pod.
Yes he like to hire pedophiles and think he is the head honcho
The highest paid principle with the least amount of experience who’s desk did he get under to get that job??
I went to McKinley Jr high and was one of the overweight kids. My experience does not match what you are claiming. I thought he was great in the mid-late 90s.
This is so typical of KUSD. They usually promote these types of employees. This is appalling.
KUSD, where shit always floats to the top.
Kevin , I just resigned from KUSD siting the recent mishandling of a number of situations directly regarding student safety, and I would like to talk further, with you what is the best way to contact you privately?
Call or email 262 237 8501
kenoshacountyeye@gmail.com
Just when you think you’ve seen it all…something like this comes along.
That said, I read the report on KTEC expansion and I also had questions about some of the potential bias on the part of some of the evaluators. Charter schools drain students and resources from boundary-defined schools in a district. With declining enrollments that could be an issue. Just sayin’
If anyone is wondering:
-Jason Creel will be the new principal at KTEC (he’s the current principal at Grewenow)
-Jennifer Faulkers will be the new principal at Grewenow (she’s the current assistant principal at Tremper)
-Scott Hodges will be the new assistant principal at Tremper (he’s the current principal at KTEC.)
Wow now kusd has 2 principles at one school that hires pedophiles
Big Steve Knecht hired at least 2 and now he has a wingman that covered for the teacher
If I had kids at tremper I would remove them right away!!
Weiss, Knect, Hodges and most of the school board needs to go! The only upsetting thing is that they are all still around children!
Not sure why the article claims he was demoted. Middle school principal to high school assistant principal is a promotion and I believe a wage increase.
Another person who doesn’t know how to read, imagine that. According to a spokesperson from KUSD, his wage is the same. Can you read that again and rethink your life?
Rethink my life. You are factually wrong. It’s a promotion…
Maybe not on the salary piece but middle to high school is a step up.
Going from the main principal of a pre-k8 to the assistant principal of a high school is a demotion. The salary is only the same because a high school AP has a significant workload and responsibility, similar to an elementary principal (which I believe is what he technically was).
pull the administrative salary schedule and see for yourself.
Enwright applied at my work about a month ago and employees caught wind of him being there and started a parade into hr to demand he not be hired. I couldn’t have been more proud of my coworkers.
Any chance you can send me an anonymous message with where?
where?
Hodges should be fired, all KUSD is doing is victimizing this poor girl by relocating this schlep and just making him an Assistant Principal!! Keeping the same salary and doing less work, that is how Corporate America works too. Move them around and let them be another school’s problem.
And they don’t know why enrollment is down?? How naive can they be? Bunch of dumbasses!!!
Scared for these kids in KUSD.
Please don’t make the citizens of Kenosha take up torches and pitchforks. If the district attorney can’t take care of this, some mentally unbalanced person will think they are doing the world a favor by taking the law into their own hands.
WTF. What am I missing here? If I was not responsible enough to stop a situation like that from going on right under my nose and with quite a bit of proof, I would be FIRED. Not demoted and moved from school A to school B. These are our kids and their safety we are talking about. This guy doesn’t need to be in education anywhere anymore—it’s clearly not working and he just doesn’t have the mental capacity to do a very important job well.
So that Enright sleeps on Peanuts sheets? What is he 5 years old? This is the “man” his brain dead wife defends? What a friggin tool
This is widespread. BETTENDORF COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT and their abuses are covered up with a vengeance by the law offices of LANE-WATERMAN, who caused the SCOTT COUNTY DA to fabricate charges in retaliation for exposing them.
http://www.youtube.com/user/kornkobiowa OUTRAGEOUS Weaponization of Government Gaslighting people with Marxist prosecutions in KANGAROO COURTS WHERE TAXPAYERS ARE BEING DEFRAUDED Of Honest Government Services .
INVESTIGATE STATE OF IOWA
Kenosha Unified has over 1600 teachers on the payroll. What percentage are known to have engaged in misconduct?