and
Michele Schmidt Superintendent Bristol School District #1
BRISTOL, Wis. — On December 8th, every Bristol School District parent received a district-wide email informing them that a staff member had been placed on leave while an internal investigation was conducted, that the investigation had concluded, that the district had taken “appropriate action,” and that the staff member would be returning to work.
Since that email went out, Kenosha County Eye has been bombarded with messages, calls, and emails from concerned parents asking what happened, what the allegations were, what the investigation actually found, and what “appropriate action” truly means. Parents want to know what standards were applied. They want to know whether this was a superficial review or a serious inquiry. They want to know whether this teacher was cleared or merely allowed back in the classroom because it was administratively convenient.
And that’s exactly where Kenosha County Eye comes in.
Wisconsin’s Public Records Law exists for moments exactly like this — so the public isn’t forced to simply trust government entities that tell them, “Take our word for it.” Parents with children in the Bristol School District do not necessarily have blind confidence in administrators who ask them to accept that nothing serious occurred while refusing to release proof of that assurance. That’s not transparency. That’s “trust us” government, and Kenosha County Eye rejects that approach.
To be absolutely clear, KCE has never named the teacher. We are not disclosing their name, gender, or any identifying characteristics at this time — and we will not. We will not include their name in any lawsuit either. In court filings, we will refer to the staff member as John Doe or Jane Doe. If the teacher truly did nothing wrong and the investigation confirms that, their name will never be published here. Period.
But parents deserve answers, not PR language.
The December 8th letter admitted that an investigation occurred, admitted the teacher was removed, admitted “appropriate action” was taken, and admitted the teacher was returned to students. Either this teacher did something serious enough to warrant removal and corrective action, or the district is overstating the seriousness while hiding facts. Either possibility raises legitimate public concern.
Wisconsin law does not allow school districts to quietly investigate alleged misconduct involving a staff member who interacts with children, reinstate them, and then bury the findings. The law strongly favors disclosure of final investigative outcomes — not rumor, not gossip, not speculation — but the actual investigation, so taxpayers and parents can form their own judgments.
Unfortunately, Bristol School District hired a very liberal attorney that Kenosha County Eye believes has a long history of providing extremely poor legal advice to public bodies — attorney Shana Lewis. In our opinion, she has repeatedly encouraged government agencies to fight transparency, to withhold public records that should be released, and to interpret the law in the most secrecy-friendly way possible. Once again, we believe she has advised Bristol School District to hide records parents are legally entitled to see.
Kenosha County Eye requested the records lawfully. The district refused. Parents remain in the dark. That is unacceptable.
So here is what happens next:
Kenosha County Eye will file a lawsuit to force the disclosure of the investigation. Once those records are released — and we are confident they will be — the community will finally know what happened. If the teacher is innocent of wrongdoing, we will report that and protect their identity. If the findings reveal serious policy violations, parents will have the truth the district refused to share.
Until then, one thing is clear:
Parents should never have to “just take the district’s word for it” when it comes to their children’s safety and the conduct of public-school employees.
20 Responses
….. schools feel that they are a kingdom in their own four walls. This goes on nationwide. Predominantly on college campuses, but also in high schools as we’ve seen locally here and also filtering down to grade schools.
But this is nothing new. If there was a parent that had a concern many weeks ago, they should’ve just called the police and got them involved. If these parents only made complaints to the school administration, then part of the problem is them not going to the police. There’s nobody on staff at school that has the training and resources to investigate anything. Police are trained to investigate all sorts of claims.
Amanda Nedweski, there ought to be a law that says when any kind of complaint is received at a school, police should be called. If the police show up and say this is something that the administration can handle internally because it’s just “one kid throwing a snowball at another” that’s fine.
But the police should be given first crack at everything. This is what happens when parents don’t call the police directly. It happened at Westosha Central initially and it was allowed to happen at Wilmot initially.
Parents protect your children !! Call 911
💯
That first line is ABSOLUTELY correct
It is spot on target. However, the Times are changing quickly and the level of public toleration of the Education Industrial Complex, NEA leadership crackpottery and its legalese grifting protectorate – as Gen Z can’t Read, Write, nor Arithmetic (just forget about Mathematics), and empty of critical thinking indoctrinated dumb as a box of rocks, is coming to an end.
yes!
… that didn’t call the cops when a kid was stabbed until many hours after.
You all remember that ?
ye shall know them
It’s about our kids
Abolish Public Schools
Abolish Teacher Unions
Definitely
You sound stupid! Teacher Unions have been gone since Scott Walker was in office! Get your head out of your ass! If they got rid public schools then special education kids wouldn’t be served! It is the public school system that serves the private schools for special education needs! Know your facts before posting something you obviously don’t know anything about!
Idiot
The special education kids are not being served now!!! They are hiring unqualified teachers and not following the IEPs. They don’t care about the special education students
They haven’t been. Jane Vernon shut down a while ago. Now they let these damaged kids run a muck with normal kids, interfering with their schooling.
How much does Michelle Schmidt make ?
Too much
How do we know it was “grooming like behavior”?
Must protect pedophiles
Thank you, Kevin! Bristol seems to have a long history of lacking transparency about many issues!
I’m a taxpayer and I don’t want to be paying for Attorney grudge matches on my dime. Time to replace this Attorney Shana Lewis, she is costing us.
Dear Bristol residents, all we do is spend money on bad lawyers and end up in the media for foolish acts. AGAIN!!!!!