KENOSHA, Wis. — When a teacher is accused of being drunk at school and then striking a school bus filled with children, most parents might expect their school board to fire that teacher. That isn’t what happened in Kenosha. Five liberal members of the Kenosha Unified School District School Board opposed firing Tremper teacher Casey John Cushman, while only two supported his termination, according to sources familiar with the board’s discussions — and now those five have “egg on their faces,” as one KUSD parent put it. Cushman, 42, of Kenosha, was back in court Thursday on an entirely new criminal case, this time charged with violating a harassment restraining order and misdemeanor bail jumping.

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“Why do the liberal Democrat board members think they need to defend every reject teacher? Fire the maniac!” the district parent told Kenosha County Eye. KCE previously reported that sources familiar with discussions over Cushman’s employment said five of the seven board members opposed firing him, while Sabrina Landry and Bob Tierney supported termination — and KCE was also told that alcoholism being a disease was raised during discussions about why Cushman should not be fired.

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New Criminal Case
Cushman was arrested Wednesday night and formally charged Thursday with violating a harassment restraining order and misdemeanor bail jumping. Each misdemeanor carries a maximum possible penalty of nine months behind bars and a $10,000 fine. Cushman appeared in court Thursday afternoon in custody with attorney Fidil Idrizi, while Assistant District Attorney Douglas Haney appeared for the state.

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Court Commissioner Daniel “Catch & Release” Kellum found probable cause and released Cushman on no-cash bail — ordering him not to possess or consume alcohol, possess weapons, consume controlled substances without a prescription or possess drug paraphernalia. Cushman was also ordered to have no contact with the mother of his children except third-party contact through Our Family Wizard concerning their children. A pre-trial conference was scheduled for Oct. 9 at 1:15 p.m., and a final pre-trial is scheduled for Oct. 28 at 8:45 a.m. before Judge David O. Hughes.

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Late-Night Messages Lead To Arrest
According to the new criminal complaint, Pleasant Prairie Police were dispatched at about 11:31 p.m. Wednesday to investigate an alleged violation of a restraining order. The mother of Cushman’s children told police she has an active harassment injunction against him that remains in effect until Aug. 11, 2029. Because they share children, Cushman is permitted to communicate with her about child visitation through Our Family Wizard, according to the complaint.

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The woman told police Cushman instead sent her numerous disrespectful messages outside the permitted scope of child visitation and that she did not consent to the messages. The complaint reproduces a string of messages allegedly sent by Cushman throughout Wednesday — messages in which he allegedly insulted the woman, attacked her parenting and relationships and made statements about giving up his financial obligations and time with the children. “Keep them,” Cushman allegedly wrote during one exchange, later calling the woman a “lazy bitzh.” Other messages contained numerous apparent spelling errors and fragmented sentences.

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Police then went to Cushman’s Kenosha residence — where, according to the complaint, Cushman admitted being upset with the woman because of a dispute concerning his ability to see their children. Officers also determined Cushman was already out on bond in his school-bus hit-and-run case and was under a court order not to commit additional crimes, resulting in the second charge of misdemeanor bail jumping.

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Restraining Order Was Already In Place
The restraining order underlying Cushman’s newest criminal case was issued more than a year ago. On Aug. 11, 2025, Cushman and the mother of his children appeared before Court Commissioner William Michel, who granted a harassment injunction against Cushman that remains in effect until Aug. 11, 2029. The injunction ordered Cushman to cease harassing the woman, stay away from her residence and avoid contact that harassed or intimidated her, including electronic communications.

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In seeking court protection, the woman alleged Cushman had shown up at her home intoxicated seeking his children, appeared to want to leave with them while intoxicated, called his son degrading names, flipped off the residence and left. One of Cushman’s children also separately sought a restraining order in 2025 — alleging Cushman made death threats against her mother, was frequently under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the preceding three years and drove past the family’s residence while intoxicated.

The child also alleged Cushman showed up intoxicated and made threats at soccer games and had been drunk at school multiple times. That child’s request for an injunction was denied by Court Commissioner William Michel — and those statements were allegations made in restraining-order proceedings, not findings that the alleged conduct occurred.

School Bus Crash With 11 Children Aboard
Cushman’s latest criminal case comes while he is already facing prosecution over the June 4 incident at Tremper High School. According to the criminal complaint in that case, police were called to Tremper at about 2:57 p.m. after a 911 caller reported that a red Dodge pickup had crashed into a school bus carrying students and fled. Police found 11 students still aboard the First Student bus, and no injuries were reported.

School surveillance video allegedly showed Cushman leave Tremper, get into his red Dodge Ram and drive over a curb while leaving the staff parking lot, nearly striking a metal sign — before his truck struck the parked school bus. Instead of stopping, police said the truck accelerated onto a grass field, traveled over another curb and sidewalk and returned to the roadway. Police said multiple students, pedestrians and other vehicles were in the area as Cushman’s truck traveled through it in what an officer described as a reckless manner.

Police later found Cushman at his home — where Cushman admitted hitting the school bus and said he fled because he was “scared.” He later told police he was “embarrassed” because he was a Tremper teacher and students would see him and make fun of him.

An officer reported Cushman’s eyes were bloodshot and glassy. Cushman denied drinking alcohol or consuming narcotics but acknowledged taking Librium, a benzodiazepine, earlier that morning. When asked whether the medication impaired him, Cushman allegedly responded, “Uh, I don’t know. Yeah, just kind of slow.” An officer then asked Cushman to rate his level of intoxication on a scale of one to 10, with one being completely sober and 10 being blackout drunk — and Cushman answered “three,” according to the complaint. After standardized field sobriety testing, police arrested him for operating while impaired.

Cushman was ultimately formally charged with misdemeanor hit-and-run involving an attended vehicle. He appeared in that case on Sept. 11 and was released on no-cash bail with the condition that he commit no additional crimes — the new complaint now alleges Cushman violated that condition by violating the restraining order.

Prior Sexual Harassment Investigation
The criminal cases aren’t the first serious allegations KUSD officials have dealt with involving Cushman. In October 2025, a female Tremper employee accused Cushman of repeated sexually inappropriate conduct during a professional development session — alleging Cushman repeatedly said “anal,” made sexually suggestive remarks, smelled her pen, asked whether she was a “one hander or a two hander” and slid the pen along her leg toward her groin while claiming he was trying to return it to her pocket.

The employee said she texted a co-worker for help during the encounter and reported the incident to Tremper administration immediately afterward. KUSD placed Cushman on paid administrative leave while Human Resources investigated — but the district ultimately determined there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the complaint because other employees interviewed did not directly witness the alleged conduct.

Despite that determination, KUSD imposed significant restrictions when Cushman returned to Tremper. He was ordered not to communicate with the complainant except during an emergency, required to use a designated entrance and restroom, kept separated from her during meetings and prohibited from entering her classroom except in limited circumstances — restrictions that remained even though the district had declined to substantiate the complaint. The employee appealed the district’s decision, but the original determination was ultimately upheld.

School Board Faced Decision On Cushman’s Future
The question of Cushman’s employment came to a head after the school-bus incident. Before the beginning of the 2026-27 school year, Tremper parents discovered Cushman’s name on their children’s schedules as their welding teacher — prompting some parents to tell KCE they were considering keeping their children home rather than allowing them to attend his class.

Superintendent Jeffrey Weiss told KCE on Aug. 27 that Cushman would not return to the building. “Cushman is on unpaid leave pending board action and will not be on school grounds,” Weiss wrote. Sources familiar with the board’s discussions subsequently told KCE that five of seven board members opposed terminating Cushman, while only Landry and Tierney supported firing him.

KCE has also spoken with people close to Cushman who said he went out of state for alcohol rehabilitation but returned and began drinking again. KCE sought confirmation Thursday, a district spokesperson refused to confirm or deny whether Cushman remains employed by KUSD, leaving his present employment status unclear.

What is now public is that Cushman has a second criminal case — and the School Board had already been confronted with his employment status before this latest arrest. According to KCE’s sources, five members opposed firing him while two supported termination, a decision that one KUSD parent says looks considerably different today: “Why do the liberal Democrat board members think they need to defend every reject teacher? Fire the maniac!”