Damakant Jayshi
The Wausau School Board will meet in closed session Monday to discuss an appeal related to nondiscrimination and equal employment opportunities, according to a special meeting agenda.
So far, the details surrounding the meeting are vague, with multiple controversies within the district in recent months.
The nine-member board is meeting in closed session under a board policy that outlines the process to file a complaint and how the person filing it should be protected as a result. The board will meet with “interested parties” in an appeal related to a decision made by Superintendent Keith Hilts.
The “interested parties” will then be excused and the board members will deliberate amongst themselves before reconvening in open session. Then, the group could take further action “if necessary and appropriate,” the agenda states.
This year the WSB has already had to deal with a few personnel-related matters. In one instance, the board ordered an outside independent investigation related to the alleged harassment of a high school student by former Wausau East band director, Rob Perkins, for allegedly using racist and homophobic language in the classroom. Perkins has since resigned.
In June, while hearing from outside legal counsel investigating the Perkins situation, the board also received in closed session an update from the district administration’s “investigation” related to another staffer.
It is not clear which situation will be discussed on Monday.
The board’s decision to order an outside probe emerged following an earlier investigation by the district’s human resources director, Tabatha Gundrum, who dismissed the band director’s comments and said they did not rise to the level of harassment. He was then allowed to return. The attorney hired by the school board overturned that decision.
Earlier this month, the board restored a middle school band director’s position and reinstated Andrew Marrier over objections from senior district administration officials including Gundrum, who has also been questioned repeatedly by Board Member Pat McKee over data surrounding staff separations.
McKee also led the charge to reconsider the board’s earlier decision to eliminate Marrier’s position, after finding that enrollment in band had increased, not decreased.
McKee said he and others were misled about band enrollment numbers when approving the initial decision.
Enrollment trends played a key role in the board’s decision to eliminate Marrier’s position, but the board later learned that the information they were given did not match actual enrollment figures.
Wausau School Board President James Bouche could not be immediately reached over the weekend for comment.
Wausau Pilot & Review will be covering the board’s special meeting on Monday.
