Damakant Jayshi
The Wausau East High School band director is under fire amid charges of harassment that have not yet been made public.
Members of the Wausau School Board on Monday heard contrasting arguments about the accusations against Robert Perkins, who was named Teacher of the Month in January and has served in his role for a decade.
Multiple sources tell Wausau Pilot & Review that Perkins has not been at the school for about three weeks. This newspaper has reached out to Perkins, the student’s family filing the complaint, district administration and the Wausau School Board for their responses.
Board President James Bouche declined to comment, stressing the need to stay neutral during an ongoing investigation. District Communications Director Diana White, in an email to Wausau Pilot & Review, said more information will be released when the investigation is complete.
“In order to respect the confidentiality of everyone involved, we will not comment on an open investigation,” White said.
Though no official information about the complaint has been released, several people spoke about the allegations during the public comment portion of the Education/Operations Committee meeting Monday.
Former WSB member Mary Thao asked the board to uphold and enforce policies that aim to provide a “safe and decent education environment” for students in the district.
“I believe anyone that creates an environment that’s hostile to anyone, environment that creates chaos, environment that is insulting, threatening and dehumanizing to any of our students should be held to the highest consequences,” Thao said.
But all four students who spoke after Thao effusively praised Perkins, saying how he made them and other students feel welcome, provided them safe space, encouraged them to excel and express themselves regardless of their race or background.
Those students appeared to assume the board had already made a decision regarding the teacher’s fate, and urged the board to “reconsider your decision” and bring the band director back. They asked the the board to be transparent and communicate with students.
Wausau Pilot & Review is not identifying any of the students by name.
“I am not only autistic but an openly queer student,” said one student, who added that the band is a safe space to “express my identity but also to express the fact that my senses are not like other people and my band director has made it possible that I am able to be myself.”
The student repeatedly asked for a “uniform reaction” from the school board and pointed out that the Wausau School District administration did not previously act on such complaints.
“I have come to the administration with instances and documented evidence of sexism and homophobia before and no public action has been taken,” the student said. “You all have created an environment where some of us feel safe and some of us don’t,” the student said, adding that students did not always get help when they sought it.
Three other students also urged the board to bring back the band director. One said not doing so would be “unjust.”
Thao, also a former Wausau City Council member, said she understands the deliberations required of the board on the matter of disciplinary action related to the staff and said the board has only one option. She also told the board that parents from the Hmong-Lao community “ask you to do the right thing.” Thao said racial tension is happening in the district and some staff failed to provide a safe environment for students.
Thao did not respond to a request for comment from Wausau Pilot & Review.
Unclear, as of Tuesday, is whether the district formally issued a suspension or other discipline. Members of the board held a closed session to consider “discipline of a staff member,” but did not specifically mention Perkins.
The child’s father, who is not being named by Wausau Pilot & Review to protect the identity of his son, wrote on Facebook that the boy was “targeted by his teacher all year, who uses racist and anti-gay slurs openly and repeatedly in the classroom.”
Before the meeting on Monday, Thao took to Facebook to say she “stand(s) with the…family. “I believe in creating a space free and clear of harassment, discrimination and racism.” She shared details about the Wausau School Board’s meeting.
“As a Hmong community leader, I asked District Administration and now the Board to do the right thing, she wrote in her Facebook post. “What they choose to do or not do will send a clear signal of where they stand.”
