Editorial: Newspaper was left with no alternative but to file lawsuit

I

 remember the two Wisconsin Rapids School Board members that were in the minority when the rest of the Wayne Pankratz-led group voted to hire Robert Crist as the district’s new superintendent. The majority group violated the open meetings laws in the hire — the vote was held in closed session without proper notice.

Those two in the minority, however, voted against the hire and spoke out in public about the problems. They were critical of the open meetings violations, and rightfully so.

Jeff Williams

Now those two — Sandy Hett and Mary Rayome — are figuratively on the other side of the isle. They were critical of past violations of state law; they are now faced with open records violations and seem to be in support of the administration’s stance.

They should look at the open records violations with the same critical eye. The two would see a similar disregard for the law.

The VOICE filed a law suit against the School District this week because of Superintendent Colleen Dickmann’s denial of our open records request for the documents associated with the investigation into teacher misconduct in the wrestling locker room fiasco.

The documentation is classified as an open record, according to the state laws. There is actually a specific provision to make records public when there is misconduct of a teacher. Dickmann, nonetheless, denied our request claiming it was simply a matter of student confidentiality.

We did not ask for student records; we want the public to have access to records that the law specifically states it should. And we want to see how the district investigated the coaching staff.

The district wants the public to trust them — to sit back and accept that their internal investigation into the coaches was done thoroughly and completely. It’s not that simple.

The government creates laws that allow the public to look over its shoulder, because the public is paying for the government.

And it’s not a matter of trust. I trust the district every day; I send my three children there into their care. Our job, as a newspaper, and your job, as the general public, is to trust but verify. When the district agrees to a union wage, we verify the contract. When the district bids out projects for work on the buildings, we verify the process. When the district announces the finalist for administration hires, we verify their backgrounds.

When the district suspended head coach Scott Benitz, we wanted to verify the investigation and its findings. We trust the district conducted its investigation into the coaches, but the public has a right to verify.

The lawsuit was not an easy decision. It came down to how we, as a newspaper, define our responsibility to you, the reader.

I hope you are reading the VOICE newspaper because you expect its journalists to perform journalism. It’s a job I take seriously.

We’re not trying to “get” anyone; the VOICE’s position is simple: Records that are supposed to be made publicly available, should be accessible to not only the VOICE but to everyone.

Unfortunately, it seems it takes a lawsuit to get the district to release those records.

Jeff Williams is the editor of the VOICE newspaper and voiceofwr.com