By Shereen Siewert
A Wausau elementary school teacher arrested in April with various narcotics for which she did not have a prescription was ordered Wednesday to pay a $50 fine and will be allowed to petition the court for expungement if she doesn’t commit any new crimes.
Renee Webb, 52, has been a teacher in the Wausau School District for 27 years. Webb initially faced misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, and was issued a citation for first-offense operating while intoxicated following an arrest in Rothschild.
On Wednesday, Webb was convicted of possessing drug paraphernalia and the controlled substance charge was dismissed. Because first-offense OWI is a citation in Wisconsin, not a crime, that charge is not part of the public court record.
Wausau School Superintendent Keith Hilts said Webb is currently on administrative leave.
But court documents show this is not the first drug-related conviction for Webb. In 1996, during Webb’s tenure with the Wausau School District, Webb was convicted of three counts of obtaining prescription drugs by fraud. Felony charges of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
Webb’s personnel file, obtained through an open records request, show a history of absences and late arrivals, leading to parents who requested not to have their child placed with Webb. District records show an official reprimand issued for Webb at South Mountain Elementary, one of the six Wausau schools in which Webb was a teacher, and was required to undergo a “plan of improvement” to continue in her role.
Nine days after her written reprimand, Webb was again late to the classroom after lunch, forcing the school’s principal to supervise students until her return, according to District personnel records.
At the time of her arrest, Webb was listed as a third grade teacher in the Stettin Elementary School directory.
