Whitewater: Residents share frustration with school board amid resignations; cite poor communication

By Kim McDarison

Tuesday marked the second in what has become a series of special meetings during which members of the Whitewater Unified School District community share — often emotionally — upset with the district’s superintendent and board of education. 

According to district stakeholders, frustration stems from two causes: a series of teacher and staff resignations, seen by some as resulting from fear of retaliatory responses made by the district’s leadership against those who voice concerns as they relate to recent changes made in district programs and policies, and a lack of communication between the district’s leadership and its faculty and families. 

Tech ed resignations 

Upset among community members became public during a school board meeting held Jan. 3, during which the resignation of a high school shop teacher, Mike Wintz, was discussed. 

Several members of the community voiced their concern over losing the veteran teacher, who, according to the district’s superintendent, had been given the choice to retire or face potential disciplinary consequences after a student was injured in shop class. 

During the January meeting, Whitewater Unified School District Superintendent Caroline Pate-Hefty told those in attendance: “Please know that with any employee accident or incident I can’t give details specific of the employee. I can confirm that there was an accident at the high school. As with any serious accident or incident, we are required to investigate.”

Pate-Hefty said the aforementioned accident and investigation that followed constituted a process that would be applied by the district to any similar set of circumstances.  

Following an investigation, an employee is given an opportunity to review the investigation summary and learn the outcome of the investigation, Pate-Hefty said.  

“They are offered due process and union representation at this time. The summary really includes my recommendation, which is not binding, and they are informed that the final recommendations are made at the board,” Pate-Hefty noted, adding that the board is the only entity that can take action on hiring or firing an employee. 

An employee, after learning of the investigation’s outcome, is offered several options, Pate-Hefty said, including a board hearing in either closed or open session. Outcomes of such hearings could include no action, a disciplinary action up to and including termination, or an employee can choose to resign and retire.  

Wintz retired Dec. 13, 2021. 

Following the January meeting, Wintz told Fort Atkinson Online that he opted to retire so as not to risk losing his health insurance. He has since found other employment. 

Wintz’s retirement was followed by the resignation of a second shop teacher, Cody Watson, who has since found employment as a member of the tech ed program within the School District of Fort Atkinson. 

Watson resigned from the Whitewater school district Jan. 17.

During a school board meeting held Jan. 24, Pate-Hefty announced a new hire in the district’s tech ed program: Tim O’Toole. His starting date was Jan. 31. 

The board accepted his resignation during Tuesday’s special meeting. 

In his resignation letter, dated June 1, O’Toole said that he believed “my engineering/management skills can be better utilized within the manufacturing environment.” 

O’Toole held a private sector job before joining the school district. 

His resignation date is June 9. 

O’Toole wrote: “I am willing to help in any way that I can in regards to preparing the shop for a new curriculum and fresh start.”

In his letter, O’Toole noted that a Wisconsin Automobile and Truck Dealers Association curriculum manager had recommended “to clear out the shop, elimination of irrelevant engines, vehicles, motorcycles and junk in an attempt to create a shop more conducive to delivery of a structured curriculum rather than project based learning.” 

Additionally, in May, the School District of Fort Atkinson announced that Mary Kilar, principal at Lincoln Elementary School in Whitewater, would be assuming her new duties as principal of Purdy Elementary School in Fort Atkinson beginning with the 2022-23 school year. 

Special meeting held May 24 

During a special Whitewater Unified School District Board of Education meeting held May 24, members of the public again voiced frustration with what they saw as an increasing frequency of resignations, including that of Kilar. 

Prior to the May 24 special meeting, board members met in executive session, according to the agenda, “to review the superintendent evaluation.” 

After the board reconvened in open session, Board President Thayer Coburn read a statement outlining what the board perceived as two factors that had been contributing to retention concerns. The were “unmanageable workloads” and “concerns about direction.” 

“The demands of the pandemic and recent turnover have created imbalances. Our superintendent, Dr. Caroline Pate-Hefty, is addressing these imbalances with the board’s support,” the statement read. 

Additionally, Coburn read from the statement: “our superintendent has many strengths, among them a clear vision for the district, the energy and the organization to execute that vision, the willingness to make unpopular, but necessary, decisions, an approachable and compassionate demeanor, and the fortitude to stand before her staff and the public — no matter what. These strengths were exemplified in the administrative actions prior to the resignation of a former high school tech ed teacher. 

“Knowing that the mishandling of the situation could have cost the district hundreds of thousands of dollars or more in legal costs, our superintendent worked closely with the district’s long-term legal council to protect both the district and the employee, all while supporting an injured student and their family and rebuilding the tech ed program into one the district can be proud of. Due process dictated that the superintendent withhold certain details of the case from the board at the beginning of the investigation, which created the misperception that she was hiding something for her own benefit. In fact, she shared the details of the case with the board precisely when the district’s legal team advised it was appropriate.” 

Additionally, the statement noted, the board had identified “areas of improvement” for the superintendent, adding: “We will not list them here, but she has acknowledged and is working on them with the board’s support and input, as well.” 

The statement also addressed issues of communication, noting: “Unfortunately, destructive communication is creating disunity in our ‘Unified’ school district. Constructive communication could help define problems and elicit solutions; instead, far too often, destructive communication fosters misunderstandings and erodes morale …”

The statement addressed concerns voiced by stakeholders about the perception among some about district retaliation, stating: “That anybody even thinks retaliation could happen is bad enough. Still, the board is grateful to have a superintendent who has firm expectations and holds her team accountable. Anybody who believes they have been the victim of retaliation, and not accountability, should immediately contact a member of the school board.” 

Whitewater Unified School District Community Engagement Coordinator Molly Fuller spoke during the public comments segment of the May 24 meeting. 

Said Fuller: “Over the past several months, numerous community members, staff members from each of our schools, and families have reached out to me regarding their disappointment in where our district is headed. I want to be clear that people, including myself, are not upset with change in our programs or in our workload.”

She continued: “I am heartbroken to know so many of us are hurting and disappointed at them being told that what we are feeling is a miscommunication. We are a family. When one, or in this case, numerous people are being shown that they don’t matter, it tells me that we are not following our vision as a district.” 

She added: “If we don’t support our staff, students and families, they will leave our district. If our district is run without the heart, integrity, honesty and trust, transparency and ethics, no amount of programming will save this district because staff and families will not stay, because our core values do not exist.”  

A Washington Elementary School teacher, Nick Meinel, also addressed the board, saying: “I recently submitted a letter to the board expressing some significant concerns that I was having.”

Among his concerns, he said, was the rate at which teachers and administrators were leaving the district. He described those leaving as “well-rooted people, who care passionately, deeply about this district and about this community. 

“And they are leaving and I unfortunately understand why. I think it’s a symptom of a larger issue; I think that there is no longer trust and no longer faith in their leadership.”

During the May 24 meeting, Fuller’s position was approved by the board for an increase from part-time to full-time. 

An hour after the meeting, the superintendent and a board member confirmed on Tuesday, June 7, Fuller tendered her resignation. 

In her resignation letter, which was supplied by the district through request made by Fort Atkinson Online, Fuller wrote: “It saddens me to inform you that I will be resigning from my position as Whitewater Unified School District’s Family/Community Engagement Coordinator. Everything I have done has been in the best interest of our students, staff, families, and community. Creating Partners in Play, forming great relationships with companies and Blackhawk Technical College, helping promote our Youth Apprenticeship Program, putting together the Career and Job Fairs, creating the Welcome Wagon, helping create a positive narrative on social media and local papers. I served on the board of Whitewater Chamber of Commerce, and board co-president of Whitewater Leads has always been in the best interest of our students, staff, families and community. I no longer feel that what I hold most important is held with the same regard by the district. June 14th will be my last day. I wish you all the best.”  

On June 6, Pate-Hefty sent a communication to district families and staff, which read: “A Whitewater Unified School District teacher has been placed on administrative leave while the district’s legal representation conducts an investigation of complaints received by a building principal. Per district policy, the teacher will remain on leave until the investigation is complete, and a substitute will cover the teacher’s classes for the remainder of the school year.” 

The school year officially ended Tuesday, June 7, according to Jaclyn Tueting, administrative assistant to the superintendent. 

The district has been advised by its legal representation that it may not release the name of the teacher who has been placed on administrative leave, Coburn told Fort Atkinson Online Wednesday in a telephone interview. 

Special meeting held June 7

During Tuesday’s special board of education meeting, four speakers came to the podium to address the board during public comments. 

Whitewater business owner and resident Geoff Hale, noting what he described as his “deep seated love” of the community and district, said: “We talked about culture at the last school board meeting and some of the reasons that, as important as a strong culture might be, it was lacking here in our school district.” 

He added: “Another sound characteristic of a great organization is that it’s built from the bottom up, not the top down. The latter is too often the case here and it leads to my next question: Why is it that all of the 4K teachers have resigned? Is it because this stretch of your 3K agenda was pushed as a directive from our superintendent and more than most could bear?” 

Citing a chart produced by a resident and recently shared through online resources, Hale said 53 teachers had resigned from the district within the last year. 

Said Hale: “People don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care. You have a superintendent who has demonstrated time and time again that she cares little, if any at all, about her staff or for her staff. As a school board and as a superintendent, the message you are sending to all staff … is that they are simply disposable. You have a policy problem, but you also have a leadership problem. Respect for the ranks is gone.” 

Whitewater resident Guy Ledwell, addressing the board, said that while he was “out in the community,” he often heard people talk. While at a restaurant recently, he said, he overheard people talking about the statement read by Coburn on the board’s behalf during the May 24 special school board meeting. 

“I don’t know who wrote that letter, but I found it somewhat appalling. One of the words that came to mind with that letter is ‘cowardly,’ he said, adding: “I think it was invalidating, and I think anybody that wanted to come up here and speak wouldn’t feel very comfortable to do so.” 

Ledwell said he felt embarrassed by the letter.

“I felt it was a little bit of an attempt to cover butts, sometimes your own and sometimes others. This district has a culture problem. I hear the word being used: ‘toxic,’ and I don’t like that, that makes me feel uncomfortable, but I really feel it’s become a little bit toxic.”

Ledwell said he has spoken with teachers in the district, many of whom he described as friends.  

“They’re scared to death of retaliation. They’re very stressed in their jobs without that. I feel that the culture is a problem and I think it’s unsafe. And I think it’s an ‘us against them’ mentality,” he said. 

Ledwell said he felt uninformed by the district about its plans and goals. 

“Everything I hear here and everything I read, and I’ve read every piece I can get, is from 10,000 feet,” he said, adding that within his company, when people he supervises are in need of adjustments, he looks to establish a plan.  

“I talk to those people and I say: ‘what you’re doing’s not working. I don’t want to get rid of you, but I need a plan from you. And I need a very specific plan’ — I want a plan with benchmarks. I want a plan with goals, and I want a plan that there’s accountability to them.”

In the district, he said, “everything just seems open-ended. I just think as a whole, there was retaliation after the last board meeting. I’m just going to say it. And if people are going to deny it, they can deny it. But the two employees that spoke here, both have unfortunate situations now, and the timing is really interesting … I’m very upset that that teacher’s on administrative leave even if he deserves it, with the timing, because I believe it would have been known before now, and the other person that left, I only met her three times … and I can tell you she had a very positive affect on this district and now she’s gone. So is Mary Kilar … a lot of people have left. I don’t know what your plan is Ms. Superintendent, but I would love to hear it. It doesn’t seem like it’s compatible or can coexist with really good people in this district.” 

Whitewater resident Lexy Maas spoke about her battle with cancer, sharing with board members a visual she used to help her get through her treatments. She described her visual as a pyramid, and she needed to “stay on top” of each tier. 

She next shared a similar visual she created to describe the district. It, too, was a pyramid, she said, noting that each tier was required to make a strong district. In the district, she said, “Our middle tier is crumbling. And regardless of the reason: retirement, COVID, national statistics, this middle tier is crumbling. We are losing the tier that is directly supportive of our student body. Without them, and without their support, they will not succeed.” 

District resident Andrea Svec said she was saddened and scared by the state of the district. 

“We have lost so many teachers and we have lost so much trust, and I’m not sure where the vision is for this district, but we have a problem, folks, we have a serious problem,” Svec said. 

She told board members and the superintendent that she did not know who was at fault, but, she said, “what I do see is that there is a lack of cohesion in this town; there is a lack of respect in talking to each other. We should not have teachers be afraid to come up and talk about the things that they see that are wrong. That’s wrong. We should be able to speak; that is our right — to speak. It is their right to speak.” 

Svec said teachers should not be afraid to come forward thinking their livelihoods are in danger.  

“It is so wrong. It’s unAmerican. And you should do better than that. And our kids deserve better than this. You are all responsible for making the school district strong; you have been voted here, you have been hired to do better than you are doing. And our teachers deserve better than that. We need to get our act together, and we need to make a difference. And we need to change. And I don’t know what this vision is that we have, because we don’t talk about anything. We don’t talk about what the vision is,” Svec said. 

Followup statements 

On Wednesday, in response to questions asked by Fort Atkinson Online, Coburn sent by email the following statements. 

Addressing retaliation he wrote: “The board does not and will not tolerate retaliation. Board policy 527, which states that ‘No employee or District official shall, or attempt to, restrain, interfere with, coerce, discriminate against and/or retaliate against any employee who files or processes a grievance in good faith,’ obligates us to look into any instance of suspected retaliation that has been brought to our attention. I interpret this policy to apply to both formal grievances, like those that would be submitted in writing by an employee or by the union on an employee’s behalf, and informal grievances, like speaking during the public comments at a school board meeting.”

Addressing investigations, he wrote: “Regarding the current administrative leave of a teacher in the district, to protect the interests of both the employee and the district, the board President and Vice President are only aware of the name of the employee, the general nature of the allegations, and the timeline of the notification and response. Knowing these things, this absolutely does not appear to be retaliation. Nonetheless, recognizing the potential for that appearance, Dr. Pate-Hefty immediately turned this matter over to an outside investigator contracted by the board. That outside investigator will present their findings and recommendations directly to the board when appropriate, and we will share what we can when we can.” 

A story about the special school board meeting held May 24 is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/whitewater-school-board-addressed-concerns-over-faculty-resignations-supports-superintendent/.

A story about a meeting held by Wintz supporters is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/whitewater-school-board-member-meets-with-wintz-supporters/. 

A story about the school board meeting in which Wintz’s retirement was discussed is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/whitewater-teachers-retirement-fuels-controversy-supporters-look-for-reinstatement/. 

A School District of Fort Atkinson announcement about its hiring of Kilar is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/kilar-named-principal-of-purdy-elementary-school/.