Raymond school board recall effort; paperwork submitted
RAYMOND, Wis. - Some voters in Racine County's Raymond School District filed the paperwork to start a recall campaign, FOX6 was first to report. The group is looking to oust two school board members: Gwen Keller and Janell Wise.
The organizers submitted the official paperwork to the board's clerk, Keller, right before the school board's special meeting on Tues., Oct. 24. Supporters of the campaign say it is about more than the ouster of the district's one principal.
"I think the issues with Principal Peterson are what brought a lot of us to the school board meeting, to see what was going on. But I don’t think he’s the whole picture. I think he was the beginning, the tip of the iceberg, if we have to say it," said Jennifer Hansen, parent of Raymond graduates and a former PTO president. "They are wasting our taxpayer dollars. We’re paying for a principal that they’re not allowing to be in the building, we’re paying legal fees for two attorneys now."
Raymond School
Nearly one month ago, Raymond Superintendent Michael Garvey escorted Principal Jeff Peterson out of the district's one school. He placed Peterson on administrative leave as the district investigates what Garvey wrote in a letter to Peterson were "allegations that you engaged in misconduct while performing your job for the district."
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A day before last month's principal ouster, the board voted 4-1 to issue what the board president called "a preliminary notice of contract non-renewal to Jeff Peterson pursuant to Wisconsin statutes based on Jeff's performance, as reflected in his personnel file."
Jeff Peterson
That contract runs through 2025.
After being kicked out of the school Peterson himseslf attended as a child, he filed a complaint with the state. He alleged he is being discriminated against because he is gay.
The school board last month put out a statement which said, "any notion that the school district or its board members would tolerate any discrimination, including that which is based on sex, sexual orientation, or any other protected classification, is ridiculous and extremely disappointing."
Raymond School
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The paperwork, a campaign registration statements laying out the intention to try to recall the elected board members, which was submitted Tuesday, starts a 60-day clock for recall supporters to get enough signatures. The board clerk will have to notify the organizers of that number, which is 25% of the votes cast for governor in the district.
Then, when the recall supporters return the signature forms, the board clerk has 31 days to confirm whether the recall campaign has reached the needed number. If they do, the clerk is to issue a certificate of sufficiency. The governing body, in this case the school board, would then have to call for the recall election on the Tuesday of the sixth week after the certificate is issued. That recall election would require each challenged board member run for their seat, again. If the incumbent loses, they are removed from office and the winning candidate takes their place.
"This is not a political-aligned group. In my family, we have various political views, but we all agree that this is not right and this should not be happening," said Deb Mikolajczyk, another parent of Raymond grads who is also supporting the recall effort. "I don’t want anybody to think this is a right wing or a liberal. It’s not, it’s just concerned citizens for the students and that’s who really needs our attention."
The recall organizers, upset with the ouster of the Raymond principal, are only trying to recall two of the five school board members. Wisconsin protects an elected official from being recalled until they have completed one year of their term. Second, the school board has a regularly-scheduled election in April 2024.
"I loved that my kids went to this school. And I love that my grandson will go to this school, but I don’t love it right now," added Mikolajczyk. "Everyone should be paying attention to what’s happening with their school boards. I was guilty of not paying attention. And, it’s really important, because there’s a lot going on lately."
FOX6 News did request interviews with board members, but did not hear back.
FOX6 News political reporter Jason Calvi then questioned Keller in between the open and closed session of their board meeting on Oct. 24. She thanked him for attending the meeting, but ignored questions to offer her reaction to the launch of the recall campaign against her.