KENOSHA — Frustrated parents and residents protested for over two hours Monday evening in front of the Kenosha Unified School District (KUSD) office.
"Their silence is deafening,” concerned KUSD parent, Kristy Murphy said.
Murphy believes there has been a lack of transparency from the district after a KTEC West teacher had an alleged grooming relationship with a student who was 12 years old at the time. Kenosha Police investigated and determined there was no criminal case to be made.
Murphy still wants to hold people accountable.
"We're not going to stop until you hear us,” Murphy said.
Murphy has told TMJ4’s Megan Lee for about a week now that she is mortified how the district has handled the alleged grooming relationship.
Lee asked Murphy what message the protestors were trying to get across to the district. Murphy said, “that we're not going to stop. We're not going to stop. If we have to be out here every day or we have to keep putting pressure on you, if we have to keep aggravating you."
The TMJ4 team started looking into the allegations last week and the same question keeps coming up from parents and residents.
"Why is this person still around? Why?” protester, Kevin Hutchinson asked.
A spokesperson with KUSD said it's a personnel issue and the teacher involved is on leave from KTEC West. However, this isn't enough for many parents.
"I'm a victim of grooming that led to sexual abuse and I pray every day that it doesn't happen to my children," frustrated parent, Tina Shatkins said.
Shatkins said she would not stop raising her voice about this.
“Innocence gets taken way too much every day and I'm not going to allow it with my children,” Shatkins said.
Parents said they are planning to protest again next week ahead of a special school board meeting on May 7.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
