Kenosha Unified School District Educational Support Center
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
A middle school teacher named Marcus Gallo at Brompton has been fired. Two days later, he resigned. If that didn’t make sense to you, you aren’t alone. It didn’t make sense to KCE either. We were first tipped off about Marcus Gallo being placed on administrative leave for racist remarks on February 11, 2024. We asked KUSD to confirm this. They only confirmed that he was on leave.
We then had to check in every once in a while. Obviously, KUSD doesn’t want the public to know about misconduct, so instead of updating the media, we have to make the same request repeatedly.
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
On February 27, 2024, KUSD’s Chief Communication Officer, Tanya Ruder (D), told us “Mr. Gallo resigned from KUSD effective 2/21/24 and is no longer an employee of KUSD.” Ruder is a master of spin. She is always spinning the truth and in most cases, she lies. She believed it is her job to shed KUSD in a positive light, even if it means bending the truth or lying.
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Now that KCE knew Gallo was no longer employed with KUSD, we requested his personnel file. In reviewing his file, in the very first three pages was a letter of termination. The letter was dated February 19, 2024, addressed to Marcus Gallo, says “Hand Delivered”, was signed by the embattled HR Director Kevin Neir, and ends with:
“In accordance with the discipline process outlined in the KUSD employee handbook, Section 7: Employee Conduct, Code of Ethics and Disciplinary Action, your Employment with KUSD is being terminated effective immediately.”
Not ambiguous, right? Wrong, says KUSD’s spin master flash Tanya Ruder. KCE asked her why Gallo was given a termination letter on Monday, February 19, 2024, but she is telling the media on the following Tuesday that Gallo resigned on last Wednesday? She didn’t answer at first. Finally, she did. On April 8, 2024, Ruder wrote to KCE “Mr. Gallo resigned in lieu of termination.” We had follow-up questions, like “How can he resign two days after you fired him?” No answer. She couldn’t think of a lie that would look reasonable. Par for the Ruder course.
According to Gallo’s personnel file:
During an interview with the office of human resources Gallo admitted to telling a student of a minority origin that his hair looked like moss, and that he should “go hang out with his parents on the north side of a tree.” He then told the student that he’d be “reincarnated as Moss to the north side of a brick wall”.
In January 2020, Gallo was issued a 3-day unpaid suspension for insensitive comments he made to his class. It will alleged that he made comments to the effect that Gallo had a personal pet peeve against overweight individuals and that he wondered why they did not simply go to the gym.
Gallo also stated to students that he does double takes when he see African Americans on the golf course. He also admitted to telling Mom jokes to his students in class.
He was required to attend a “Sensitivity Skills in a Diverse Workplace” class. On November 27th, 2023, he was issued a written warning for telling a hispanic student “If you are so proud of your country then go back to your country” in response to a question she asked “should you be able to fly a flag from a different country?” asked by a female student of Mexican heritage. The student then expressed that she was proud to be a Mexican even though she was not born in Mexico to which he responded “if you are flying Mexico’s flag then go back to Mexico.”
You can read Gallo’s entire 102-page disciplinary file here.
50 Responses
Kevin Neir has a s-show going on in his HR department. They try to sweep this under the rug and yet there 0 repercussions for inappropriate texts between a student and teacher at KTEC.
Kevin,
Can you publish the résumé of the
“Chief Communication Officer” ?
Also, the job description for hire.
Curious what it takes to qualify for that job.
Well , normally for bullshit jobs you just need a bullshit degree — business, communications, poli-sci, etc.- degrees for people too dumb for STEM
She’s Weiss’s Karine Jean-Pierre, KUSD is a lib shithole.
And what fancy degree do you have? That comment is narrow-minded and ignorant! You must be one of those assholes that think they’re better than everyone else. But deep down you’re an insecure, apathetic and inconsequential contributor at work…if you do work. Tanya has been with the department since Superintendent Savaglio and has outlasted the revolving door of leadership of KUSD. She’s probably been the most consistent person at KUSD. Whether or not you agree with what she wrote, she is doing her job. Tell me you don’t have aspects of your job you disagree with, but still have to do. We all do. Teachers are still people who have lives outside of the district. Clearly, certain teachers are not in the right profession. This is why they are terminated and resign. That doesn’t mean we should destroy their lives and any hope of finding another career to be contributing members of society. The pedophiles, groomers and other egregious actors should not be tolerated. KUSD is still an employer that must follow certain procedures in getting rid of someone. Otherwise, those individuals can sue the district. In that instance, we end up giving them MORE money.
People who “survive the revolving door” of KUSD are generally doing not so ethical things to stay.
There is something terribly wrong with your school district and the solution would be to replace everyone at the top, then make all other staff reapply for their jobs.
We may be in need of teachers, but nothing excuses letting morons, racists, pedophiles, drunks and criminals teach. And the good teachers don’t want to work with these people either.
Not sure where Tania lives, but she is sending her kid to Central. Go figure!!
Thanks Tanya .
In that aspect of less and etc.. their lives should be destroyed by a good firing. My son was assaulted by Mr Tyler at McKinley Jr. If the school board would have did something then he wouldn’t have been able to sexual assault a female student. Mr. Bentz damaged my shoulder at McKinley Jr by grabbing my arm and swinging me into the bleachers for chewing gum. Police were notified He kept his job and continued to pick with me. It has been covered up and shuffled around for a very long time
Sometimes no degree.
This teacher is certainly a jerk and his comments are out of line. However, his behavior is much less egregious that the teacher at KTEC who was trying to hook up with one of his students. I don’t understand why that teacher was not fired.
My first thought!
Although his comments are wrong and he is seriously in need to some retraining on appropriate communication with others, I was waiting for the “sexual assault,sexting,inappropriate touching, grooming, part of the story to come out. Compared to most other stories from KUSD, this guy mainly needs to keep quiet about his opinions!
I feel sorry for the mirrors in her house!
😂
Kenosha county is turning into “ coverup county”
Teacher is based and should be promoted.
My comment was deleted. All I asked was, “where’s the racist comments?”….
No free speech here
South Sider…,… How is this a Kenosha County problem? All these pedophiles and racist teachers are all employed by KUSD. If you want to enhance your child’s chances of being a real shitbag later in life, just keep living in Kenosha and enrolled in KUSD.
Gallo is correct
Let me take a stab at this.
We don’t know the exact sequence of events but “resign or be resigned” is not all that uncommon and, in fact, the termination letter may well have been prepared and ready to go. So, why allow a resignation as opposed to termination?
Answers: 1) Certainty; 2) Expediency; 3) Cost-effective. Getting rid of a problem employee by termination can result in internal and external due process and litigation that employers don’t always win. Even if the employer (in this case, KUSD) wins in the end, it can be pretty costly for the taxpayers and creates uncertainty for the school, other teachers and students. Cutting your losses gives an expedient and, hopefully, final outcome. I’d say the district would have a 75% chance, maybe a bit more, of winning a termination fight but KUSD’s odds are close to 100% of bidding a final farewell with the resignation. The Gallo file shows attempts at progressive discipline. There are also statements of support as well.
The down side to this is often the problem employee continues to be a problem at his or her next job. Walworth County police agencies in particular often would even go so far as to pay problem employees to quit vs. pursue termination. That was always mind boggling.
Also mind boggling to some extent is how KUSD could come to a termination decision here and not in even more frightening cases (as KCE has frequently illustrated). The transparency and veracity of the district’s PR flak and others is also head spinning at times.
This incident shows how shallow and unreliable the process can be when employers with even more compelling cases favoring termination are allowed to stay. I don’t think KUSD is entitled to a trophy for doing what should be done here.
You just wasted a lot of time with a general comment on a nonspecific person, but this is a story about specific actions with a specific person. Instead of trying to further cloud things, maybe just admit that something is seriously wrong here. When you hand deliver a notice of termination, that is not the opening shot in negotiations. That is game over and a person no longer employed has already lost the right to resign. There are enough people in many public sectors allowed to resign so that they can go soil themselves in another district without Kenosha having to do it yet again.
You are incorrect. The termination notice is just the beginning because it could be litigated. Not game over. Resignation is game over.
Let him litigate it, let him waste some lawyer money on his firing that he will need later to fight civil suits against him. Stop being a coward and stop making excuses for the school doing the wrong thing with this resignation bullshit! He was fired, that’s where it should have stayed, and there was certainly just cause for firing him just like there is Just cause to fire some of the other drugs that we seem to be stuck with. Instead of a school, it’s more of a zoo with an albatross collection.
Except that the taxpayers will waste lawyer money, too, with no guarantee of winning. I don’t care how they get rid of problem people. One down, case closed, more to go, next case.
“Past accepted practice”….of bending/ignoring rules and approved policy is an advantage when those who do the hiring and firing find their own indiscretions looking at getting the axe.
Favors granted on the backs of taxpayers can provide dividends at a later date.
Leading and teaching by bad example, KUSD has many ways to negatively influence and indoctrinate students.
Abolish Teacher Unions
Abolish Public Schools
But if you’re black, you can have intimate contact with several females and she will brush it under the rug.,KUSD overpaid too many layers of administration too many terrible teachers Kenosha’s woke
There is no crime greater than being a—gasp—RACIST! I mean, what’s the worst a pedo-teacher is going to do to a child? Permanent, irreparable damage to their psyche, causing lifelong trauma? Pfff- that’s nothing. Racism is the WORST.
Lol greatest offense in commie amerika. based teacher told anchor baby to go back to mexico if they were so proud..
Some of these teachers are in the wrong field of work! They should not be working with kids! Racism needs to stop NOW😡
There are more serious crimes going on with KUSD. Just read the KCE articles on all the sex crimes! People just need to pull their kids out of the public school system!
Kevin, please find another word to use than embattled. You use it quite often and it’s starting to feel like lazy grammatical use.
I’ve received your request. Request denied.
Redundant. Give us another word that meets with ur approval..
Embattled is a great word..
entrenched, beleaguered, drowning , ….. I still like embattled
“Spin master flash.” Brilliant! If that woman has a law degree, should could join the prosecutor’s office.
So tis is what it takes to get fired from a school district job.
Multiple Drunk Driving arrests = No Problem
Grooming Students = No Problem
Racist Comments towards Caucasians = No Problem
Racist Comments towards non-Caucasian = YOUR FIRED!!!
I never knew Tanya Ruder was such a a lying scumbag . By the way , how is that drunk Tremper teacher doing ?
I have court tomorrow
Is he on a Electric Monitor or is he actually traveling back and forth from the jail to work every day?
Yeah. She’s a yuge cunt.
For a follow-up, how about looking into the Indian Trail softball coach who was recently suspended?
Gallo was spot-on regarding golf. But in today’s environment, the truth cannot be noticed or commented upon because it violates the mandatory leftist narrative.
https://www.takimag.com/article/a-matter-of-course/
If he said it at the bar, or on the golf course itself, no one would give a dime, but the rules are different when you are a teacher and say it to a student in a room full of students. It simply isn’t allowable and firing him was the correct response according to the rule book he is supposed to work under.
If he crept (groomed) on one of his female students with over 600 snapchats telling her he loved her instead he would have been OK.
Nice try at 20 IQ diversion
¨It will alleged that he made comments to the effect that Gallo had a personal pet peeve against overweight individuals and that he wondered why they did not simply go to the gym.
¨Gallo also stated to students that he does double takes when he see African Americans on the golf course. He also admitted to telling Mom jokes to his students in class.¨
¨ he was issued a written warning for telling a hispanic student “If you are so proud of your country then go back to your country” ”
Gallo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1ehJRvVL_4
Where are all the liberals that protest and post about their agenda? Where is berg, Joel, Landry, and others who post and gripe about other issues? This is the question Kenosha! Support the wrong political party and now we have this! Predators in our schools. But we want to worry about Ukraine, Aldi, and Biden.
Gallo fired because of wokeness, and the response is pitchforks and torches against those who weren’t harsh enough in punishing him? I was mistaken there were conservatives here.