EAST TROY, Wis. — East Troy parents have repeatedly told the school board why they removed their students because of the district's culture. A former student joined them Monday night and detailed how she was bullied.
"Until they come up with some meaningful effort, we'll keep attending every single board meeting," said Rachel Anderson, an East Troy parent who first told TMJ4 about the concerns within the district last month.
Rachel's daughter Clara, who is now a freshman at UW-Madison, returned to East Troy to tell the board what she went through as a student.
"I was harassed and assaulted daily for three years by several boys in the East Troy School District," Clara told the board during the public comment session. "I was kicked while sitting on the band room floor, punched in the stomach, had my knees knocked out from under me, and was body slammed almost daily into lockers by boys twice my size."
Rachel believes the bullying within East Troy Schools is a generational problem which needs to be addressed.
"I myself was a graduate of East Troy and I myself was bullied back in the day," Rachel said. "It is one thing to say this as the mom of a child, but Clara carries those wounds deeply and with her to this day."
East Troy Schools did list "review of student(s) past investigations per public participation comments" as an agenda item for Monday's meeting, but discussed the item in a closed session. However, two board members did publicly state a desire to reform the school district's anti-bullying procedures.
"I might ask to have admin come and review with us in the public session the district's processes when there's a report of bullying or something similar," school board member Kevin Bong said during the meeting.
"If it wasn't for the two board members who chose to speak up, there would have been nothing said publicly," Rachel Anderson said.
TMJ4 e-mailed East Troy Schools superintendent Chris Hibner for comment, but he did not respond.
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.
