VOICE claims WRPS failed to follow open records laws
The VOICE of Wisconsin Rapids newspaper has filed a lawsuit against the Wisconsin Rapids Public Schools for “willfully and intentionally” denying access to public information, according to court documents.
In the suit, which was filed Nov. 1 in Wood County Circuit Court, the VOICE claims the School District failed to provide documents about the investigation into the coaching staff in the Lincoln High School wrestling locker room situation, in which a freshman on the 2010-2011 team claimed he was harassed in the locker room.
Because of the claims, four wrestlers — Zachary Benitz, Devin Peterson, Kasey Einerson and Rylan Lubeck — face disorderly conduct charges that carry up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
On Aug. 24, the newspaper requested the district to provide “documents/notes/files/etc. surrounding the internal investigation into the coaching staff,” according to the complaint.
Click here to see the complete complaint filed in Wood County Court
State law requires the district to make public the records of a teacher’s misconduct; head coach Scott Benitz will be suspended for four games at the beginning of the season.
“We wanted to look at the documents created when the district investigated the coaching staff,” said Jeff Williams, editor and co-owner of the weekly newspaper that serves south Wood County. “The tax-paying public should be able to review these open records.”
The district denied the newspaper’s request, according to a Sept. 29 letter from Dickmann.
“The district stated that it would not release the records because they were about what it viewed as ‘essentially a matter of student conduct,’” according to the complaint.
It would set a troubling precedence, Williams said.
“If this excuse holds up, then the same argument could be used to withhold virtually all teacher misconduct records,” he said.
The request was specific in seeking the information about the coaching staff, Williams said.
The suit, which was filed by the newspaper’s attorneys Greg Conway and April Rockstead Barker at Liebmann, Conway, Olejniczak and Jerry S.C., could take up to six months to conclude.
“It’s really pretty simple, the district has an obligation to provide certain information to the public and, in this case, they failed to do so,” Williams said.
More coverage — Editorial: Newspaper was left with no alternative but to file lawsuit
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