(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Over the last five years, I’ve made it my mission to hold government agencies in Kenosha County accountable—especially the Kenosha Unified School District. The readers of this site know that. During that time, I’ve published dozens of stories exposing misconduct—some criminal, some just plain disgraceful—committed by teachers, administrators, support staff, and even elected school board members. Many of those stories involve Indian Trail High School and Academy, and some readers have started to ask: what’s wrong with that school?
Let me be clear: I don’t have a grudge against Indian Trail. I don’t seek out problems there, and I don’t have an agenda against anyone inside the building. What I do have is a responsibility—to report on misconduct when it happens, and to shine a light when others try to look the other way.
Indian Trail is one of the largest schools in Wisconsin, with nearly 2,000 students and more staff than any other building in KUSD. With that scale comes exposure. Statistically, it stands to reason that more misconduct will originate there than at a smaller school. If 10 people are caught speeding in a day, chances are more of them are coming from Milwaukee than from Twin Lakes—it’s just numbers.
Yes, I’ve reported on more than 10 Indian Trail staffers over the past couple of years who’ve been involved in serious misconduct. Some were fired, some resigned, and a few went on to face criminal charges. These include a teacher sentenced to 10 years in prison for abusing a student, a coach fired for endangering her infant, and other employees reprimanded or removed for lying, threatening students, or abandoning their duties. Some of the cases are outrageous and rightly caused public anger. But we cannot—and should not—paint the entire school with the same brush.
The principal of Indian Trail, Mr. Scott Kennow, is a strong leader. He’s well-liked by students, staff, and families alike. I’ve met him several times while covering positive stories at the school, and he struck me as sincere and deeply invested in the well-being of his students. But it’s important for the public to understand this: the principal is not the final decision maker when it comes to serious staff discipline. Many decisions go through district-level administration, human resources, and even the school board. Blaming Kennow for the district’s shortcomings is misplaced.
Most of the teachers at Indian Trail are hardworking educators who want nothing but the best for our children. Unfortunately, my reporting has shed the school in a poor light—not by design, but by necessity. I don’t manufacture scandals or go looking for dirt. I rely on tips, open records, school board agendas, and public complaints. I pursue stories when the facts support them. That’s how real journalism works.
Indian Trail’s size alone makes it more likely to produce a higher number of personnel issues. It’s not a reflection on the school’s culture, but a matter of scale. No matter who you put in charge of a building that size, some people will still do stupid things. Just like putting a police officer at every intersection won’t stop all crime, no amount of oversight will prevent every lapse in judgment or misconduct by adults who should know better.
This is just my two cents: Indian Trail is a good school. It has its problems, like every school does, but it also has a lot of good people doing the right thing every day. I’ll keep reporting on the bad—but I won’t pretend it’s the whole story.
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9 Responses
well written
Even with hiring, the individual school
Administrators interview and decide they want to hire. Human Resources does the background investigation, and gives the green light and actually “hires” the employee.
Well said👍
I have two kids who have attended IT and have had some excellent teachers and a couple bums. As parents we have done our best to prepare them at each level on how to deal with any freaks,perverts,or other libtards they may encounter along the way.
Why don’t you look at all the incidents at ITA before you started the kenosha county eye.
Dig deep into those.
Also ask Scott about the $300,000 scoreboard that Indian trail is paying for instead of using that money for teachers or teaching supplies.
Your opinion might change.
Well done but you left something out — how KUSD messed up Indian Trail.
Indian Trail was originally a “specialty” school called an “academy” instead of a high school. Instead of a high school with boundaries (like Bradford and Tremper) ITA had four “houses.” If I recall correctly, biotechnology, communications, business and the Military Academy. It was a small nontraditional school with a very diverse student body that somehow meshed with each other despite the mix of geeks, Goths and military academy people. Then KUSD decided to turn it into a regular high school superimposed on the existing academy, significantly enlarging the campus and adding athletic fields. So now KUSD runs both schools under one roof. What could possibly go wrong?
I have A LOT of stories about them. That principal is horrible and needs to go. They had a kid attempt suicide and nothing was done. 911 wasn’t called, parents were called. NOTHING!!!!
You just have been threatened bc that’s such bs
…. Over at Westosha Central we have John Gendron. Not the principal but the Administrator. And even he won’t make a decision in the moment to remove a boy from a girls locker room for fear of the legal ramifications. And not just the legal ones, which is happening anyways, he’s scared for his job ! He would rather children under his watch be scared with images and memories of adults NOT STANDING UP FOR THEM than making the right decision in the moment. The immediate moment !!
Sure Principle Kennow can claim that certain decisions are above his pay grade and authority but, making a call for a teacher or other employee to take an Immediate day off when a situation comes to his attention is what leaders do !!
Do the right thing at the right time for the right reasons. Then after, sort it all out.
We’ve made teachers and other employees too powerful in their employment contracts so as to let them have control over their employers. Not a good thing.