Wausau School District. MWC file photo.
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Two additional investigations into allegations against Wausau East High School Band Director Rob Perkins were announced within 45 minutes of each other on Tuesday, one day after the Wausau School Board took more than 90 minutes of public comment on the issue.
According to a news release on Tuesday from Attorney Elisabeth Lambert, who is representing the family, the appeal challenges the “district’s assertion that the band director’s racial and sexist comments did not constitute unlawful harassment because they were made in ‘fun.'”
The release adds that saying such things in “fun” is not an acceptable defense for such actions in the district’s policies and state law. The appeal also accuses the district of not following its own policies by not informing the student and his family of their rights to appeal and failing to consider whether steps were needed to ensure the student could learn safely while the investigation was active.
“Behavior that creates an offensive school environment based on race and sex is plainly discriminatory under state law,” said Lambert. “The District can’t be allowed to rewrite the law in order to let itself and its employee off the hook.”
Perkins is accused of directing the slurs at a student multiple times. The district did investigate the issue and acknowledged that students were “let down” by the band director, but allowed him to return to his classroom. District leaders said they would be hiring a consultant to help create a better environment for both students and employees as a result of their findings.
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Shortly after that investigation was announced by Attorney Lambert, Wausau School District Coordinator of Communications and Marketing Diana White announced that the school board would be opening its own investigation. “The Wausau School Board is not allowed to see the results of investigations into employees because of constitutional due process,” said White. “The Board needs to be an independent, impartial body for all employees.”
The statement added that a third party will conduct the investigation on the board’s behalf. It will include a review of the incident and new allegations which have come forward. The statement did not specify what those new allegations were, but some former students did say they were the subject of similar inappropriate comments during their time in the Wausau School District.
The issue was the subject of more than 90 minutes of public comment during Monday’s Board of Education meeting. Outside of a brief statement from Superintendent Keith Hilts at the start of the public comment portion of the agenda, there was no further discussion on the issue. The board did go into a closed session at the end of the meeting to discuss “oral or written advice concerning strategy to be adopted by the body with respect to litigation on discrimination matters in which it is involved or is likely to become involved.”
While much of Monday’s public comment was critical of the district, some stood up for Perkins saying they always felt they could be themselves in his classroom. One former student also credited Perkins with helping her grieve the death of her sister while she was still in school.
Additionally, some students have opened an Instagram account offering rebuttals to the accusations against Perkins, saying the incident in question has been over-dramatized and is inaccurate.
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The DPI is also conducting its own investigation into the issue along with the family’s appeal of the Wausau School District’s initial investigation. The Board of Education’s investigation will mark the fourth time the claims have been examined.
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