(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
KENOSHA, Wis. — A Kenosha mother and wife who says she repeatedly tried to protect students from armed classmates is now fighting to get her job back after being fired by the Kenosha Unified School District, with supporters describing her as a whistleblower.
The woman, who worked for KUSD since 2018 and most recently worked in a general security role at Bradford High School, says she believes she was punished for reporting potential threats involving students with guns. Many people in the community praised the actions of everyone involved in quickly alerting authorities about the possible presence of weapons in school. Coworkers and community members have described the woman as a hero for helping get the information to the right people.
She previously worked in in-school suspension before moving into broader security-related duties.
According to the woman, the first incident happened on Dec. 3, 2024, when a student showed her a photo of another student with a gun in his waistband while that student was allegedly at Indian Trail High School and Academy. She said she immediately used a school phone to call her husband, who was working security at Indian Trail at the time, because she believed he could get the information to the proper people faster.
Within minutes, she said, her husband notified security staff and school administration, who then contacted police. She said district officials later became upset because she did not first notify her own administration.
The woman said she believed contacting her husband was the fastest and most effective way to get the information into the hands of people who could immediately act on it. She said she still believes she made the right decision because the information quickly reached administrators and law enforcement.
The woman said the second incident happened while she was on medical leave after suffering a serious knee injury at work. On Feb. 6, 2026, she said was made aware that another student allegedly had a gun and was making comments about being happy another student had died.
She said she immediately called a Bradford dean that same day, but nobody answered. She said she was in significant pain at the time because of her injury, was constantly attending medical appointments, and was taking prescription medications. She said district officials later told her they had no record of the call, but she says she has phone records showing she called the school. She said the matter came up again on Feb. 10, 2026, when a dean contacted her on another issue and she mentioned the alleged gun report.
According to the woman, the dean told her during that conversation that school officials were already aware of the student allegedly having a gun.
In a termination letter dated March 23, 2026, Bradford Principal Jered J. Kotarak accused the woman of failing to properly report information involving a student who may have brought a weapon to school. The letter also referenced the earlier 2024 incident involving another student allegedly bringing a weapon to Indian Trail.
Her employment officially ended March 24.
(File Photo by Kevin Matheson, Kenosha County Eye)
Kenosha County Eye has reviewed dozens of personnel files involving terminated KUSD employees over the years, and this is the first case KCE can recall in which a school principal, rather than district headquarters or human resources officials, directly issued and signed a termination letter. In this case, the March 23, 2026 termination letter was signed by Bradford Principal Jered J. Kotarak.
The woman believes the district’s explanation is unfair. She said she always acted quickly and believed her actions protected students.
She also believes her firing may have been connected to a worker’s compensation claim she filed after slipping on water she did not see in a hallway inside Bradford High School on Dec. 2, 2025, tearing her ACL and meniscus. She said KUSD initially stopped paying her benefits for two weeks before an attorney became involved and payments resumed.
She returned to work on March 17 with medical restrictions and said she was assigned desk duty because of her knee injury. Less than a week later, she was called into a meeting with Kotarak and Assistant Principal Alexis Morris after finishing her shift on March 23 and was told she was being fired.
The woman said she has additional concerns because she was told by another employee that her firing was expected well before it happened. According to the woman, other staff members were aware up to two weeks in advance that she was going to be terminated, raising questions for her about whether the decision had already been made before she returned from leave.
She also said she now believes school officials are targeting her son and threatening him with expulsion in retaliation for her worker’s compensation claim and the concerns she raised about school safety.
The woman said she was devastated because she loved the work and believed her relationships with students often helped her identify safety issues before they escalated.
“I’ve never had to do this before,” the woman recalled Kotarak telling her during the termination meeting.
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
“I spoke with HR. [The former employee]’s termination has been appealed,” KUSD Superintendent Dr. Jeffrey Weiss told Kenosha County Eye on Friday. “With this case under appeal, I cannot comment.”
Kotarak, who is publicly identified by KUSD as Bradford’s principal, has frequently spoken publicly about the importance of student safety and communication with parents and staff.
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40 Responses
Self service
And commitment is admirable.
So your saying she shouldn’t had done nothing ? Are you dumb the lady is security it’s her job how is it self service dumbass
No I think there saying u have info and u call husband at another school. That makes no sense, Pick up a phone or go walk or radio for admin to handle.
The student with the gun was at a different school and not her own school. Her husband worked at the school where the gun was
Sorry my bad
THIS IS WHAT’S FUCKING WRONG WITH SCHOOLS !!!!
THESE ADMINISTRATIONS THINK THAT THEY ARE ABOVE THE POLICE AND HOW GUNS OR SEXUAL CRIMES IN SCHOOLS SHOULD BE RESPONDED TO !!
THESE ARE NOT KINGDOMS !!!
Administrations are responsible for the three Rs and general proper functions in the buildings.
When guns or sexual conduct in the four walls of our taxpayer funded public schools are seen or rumored to happen the administration should be the second or third people to be notified.
Albeit in the same 5 minutes.
This security guard should have called 911 directly !!! That call is always answered !!
Police number one.
Then in the same minute the dispatcher should call the District Attorney as call number two to make sure whatever is found, a lawyer is there ASAP to make sure all immediate interactions done are able to be usable in court.
Then the principal of the exact building should be called by the security guard who called the police.
(That’s her second call)
That’s how they should be trained.
Wouldn’t you want the principal to know that by the time he gets notified that the police are already on their way ? Again all in just a few minutes.
BTW. Where is the SRO in all of this ?
Doesn’t this school have an SRO in the building ?
This is all about training and protocols !!
The only thing she did that is questionable is the fact that she chose to call her husband. Is that because she already knew her access to her immediate superiors was not guaranteed to happen ?!?
It’s like every fireman has ever said, we much rather would wanted to have been called and NOT BE NEEDED than to not be called and BE NEEDED !!
Taxpayers aside I hope she sues the FUCK out of KUSD !!!
No, that will NOT fly! Administrators are power trippy M-effers! Thats why they are pissed. THEY want to be the VERY first to know so they can cover tracks if needed. Bottom line, The safety of the children should be taken in consideration first! Administrators obviously don’t care about that!
That’s the very first thing I thought!
You have no clue wat it’s like to be an admin in a school. Use the sro and admin should be aware in case ti put school in lockdown.
🤣🤣🤣riiiight!
These school
Officials are unbelievable, need to look into the principal of ITA , he hides and
Lies about a lot that goes on in that school , good staff is so scared to report anything do to the repercussions as a whistle blower . He will lie and fabricate lies against them .
Why was she was texting with students? That’s not right. Fireable offense right there
“There’s nothing in the article saying she was texting students inappropriately. A student showed her a photo of someone with a gun, and she acted immediately. The issue the school had was how she reported it (calling her husband in security), not that she was communicating with students. She was literally doing her job—responding to a potential threat.”
“Texting students?! Are you serious?! She was responding to a student showing a gun in the school and doing everything she could to keep everyone—students, staff, the whole school—safe! What if that gun had gone off?! What if your kid was in that school?! This isn’t about texting, it’s about protecting lives! Stop twisting her actions into something they’re not—get your priorities straight!”
Bradford in the news again ? Jeez what a surprise
DEFUND KUSD!
Now what good will that do? SMH
Go sit in the corner and pay attention.
Yep! People should Homeschool!
Again , homeschooling is not an option for everyone!!!!
No good deed goes unpunished, again.
I’m still waiting to see the “punishing ” part for the school district!
What a shit show , top to bottom .
The key quote…”She said district officials later became upset because she did not first notify her own administration.”
IF her story is correct, this comment is very enlightening. Why would ANYONE trust someone in the KUSD administration? If you’re actually concerned about student safety, the first call should be to law enforcement and NOT KUSD administration.
And you know full well if any of these “suspects” are of minority persuasion, this would have never seen any reporting to law enforcement because that would go against all KUSD unwritten policies.
Business as usual. Nobody wants to admit these institutions are a disaster. They coverup and deny for each other for PR. My experiences in KUSD culminated in being expelled just months before graduation. I was a straight “A” student in Algebra and Art, “B” in PE, and “”C” in the classes that failed to stimulate intellectual capacities. I was subjected to a communist “No Tolerance” policy, being suspended first for ignoring a classmate who asked if I thought I could “whup” him. Several other suspensions followed for defending myself against brutal gang attacks. The final suspension came after being attacked by the same gang who had suddenly appeared outside my algebra class before the am bell and just attacked me. After, I went to class. No one was suspended. Until lunch when the Principal took me to his office where he began his verbal assault. He didn’t care about my condition after being brutalized in his school. Instead, he accused me, the victim of repeated attacks. I had enough and went to leave when he put his hand on my shoulder, grabbing me to prevent me from leaving. I didn’t know what to do but my self defense instincts kicked in and a right cross to the principals face set me free. The school board expelled me then after the principal did unto a board members daughter what he had repeatedly done unto me, the school board suspended Principal Clark, Tremper 1977.
I graduated in ’77 from Tremper and I remember principal Clark. Not a lot of good comments that students talked about pertaining to him.
Don’t worry- they’re putting in metal detectors that are gonna be “tuned down” not to catch much so it doesn’t slow down kids entering.
Someone said that Alexis morris had or has a pending case with the RUSD, not sure if it’s true but Kevin your should do some digging on that, why KUSD would hire her is beyond me, but it doesn’t surprise me.
So did y’all end up finding anything…? Don’t worry I’ll wait.
Y’all just wasted y’all time. Mad because she had a job to do just like everyone else.
This is insane! She is a hero and instead she is fired? Weiss and the whole lot of them need to be fired
Why was she texting with students? Isn’t that frowned upon? That’s grounds for termination right there.
Did you ever think she may have a child of her at the school.
Although that sounds like grounds of termination maybe if you get your head out of your ass KAREN ! and see the bigger picture. the fact that the student actually spoke to the security, and that should matter in some type of way don’t be a fool !
“That’s not what the article says at all. A student showed her a picture of someone with a gun and she acted immediately—exactly like she’s supposed to. And you’re worried about something meaningless instead of the fact there was a potential weapon in a school?! Are you kidding me?! Her entire focus was keeping everyone around her safe and the whole school safe—students, staff, everybody.
What if that gun had gone off?! She acted fast to stop a tragedy, and that’s exactly what should matter. Stop nitpicking and twisting this—she responded to a real threat and did her job protecting people.”
She wasn’t texting with students.
This must be the gun that the cop missed more than once on pat down….Then the DA did not charge as and adult……….. Great job
Back in 2014/2015 while I attended Bradford the vice principal at the time, Jared J. Kotarak’s twitter got exposed. He had liked multiple post of young shirtless “men”. This has always been in my mind. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has some skeletons in his closet.
Back in 2014/2015 while I attended Bradford the vice principal at the time, Jared J. Kotarak’s twitter got exposed. He had liked multiple post of young shirtless “men”. This has always been in my mind. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has some skeletons in his closet.
What a shit-show this school district is. Incompetence from the top down. Used to be a time when you paid top dollar for something, you received quality. Now it’s just dumbed down kids, greed, pedos and pedo support.