SUSSEX, Wis. — Multiple students at Sussex Hamilton High School received a one-day suspension for taking down Turning Point USA club posters, with parents saying the punishment went too far.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Sussex Hamilton High School student suspended for 'severe vandalism' after removing Turning Point club poster
TMJ4 News first did a story about this last week, when one parent emailed us after her student was suspended for taking down one of the posters. Her concern was that there was no clear communication between the administration and the students.
Sussex Hamilton's principal admitted that communication to students could've been more cohesive.
Since TMJ4 News did the story, we've had several parents reach out with additional concerns.
Watch: Second Sussex Hamilton parent comes forward after Turning Point club controversy
MORE PARENTS COME FORWARD
A second parent has come forward to TMJ4, revealing their child was also suspended for one day in connection with the poster incident. The parent, who requested anonymity due to fears of retaliation and harassment, initially thought a news article about the suspensions was about their own child.
"My kid had the same thing happen to them," the parent said.
When asked if they were surprised their child wasn't the only one suspended, the parent responded: "Absolutely."
The suspensions stem from students removing posters for "Club America," a group powered by Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA organization. Students say they were confused about whether the club actually existed at the school.
CLUB AMERICA AT SUSSEX HAMILTON HIGH SCHOOL
Last month, Sussex Hamilton High School's student council unanimously voted against forming Club America. However, Principal Dominic Bauer later overturned the council's decision without informing students until recently.
"We were out of compliance with the law. So, this is to my knowledge the first club that has ever been voted down in the history of Hamilton, which is why it's never come up before," Bauer said in an interview with TMJ4 News on November 20th.
In Bauer's 25-minute interview with TMJ4's Jenna Rae, he said that once the student council unanimously voted not to allow Club America, he and the school's athletic director found a 1980s law that he said needed to be followed.
That law is called the Equal Access Act of 1984, and it states that schools "may not deny comparable access to any other student group because of the religious, political, philosophical, or other content of the speech at the group's meetings."
After discovering that law, Bauer said he also decided the student council will no longer vote on new clubs because, according to him, it is against the law.
STUDENT SUSPENSIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS
While these decisions were made behind closed doors, students who say they were confused about the club's formation were suspended for vandalism.
"It's not something that should be suspended," the anonymous parent said.
"For vandalism," Rae responded.
"No, it's not vandalism. It's a piece of paper," the parent said. "This is not a student that has difficulty managing their emotions or behaving in society."
TMJ4 has talked with several parents who have students at Sussex Hamilton, and they said they wanted better communication from the school administration throughout the process.
"It's heartbreaking that we're in a place that we can't talk to each other and treat each other like humans," one parent said.
During TMJ4's interview with Bauer last week, he admitted, in hindsight, that he should've had conversations with students about this club situation sooner.
SUSSEX HAMILTON'S RESPONSE
We asked the Hamilton School District's superintendent for an interview Tuesday.
That interview request was denied, and we're told in part, because only a short part of our interview with Principal Bauer aired last week, and it resulted in the principal being a target of hateful messages from people who don't live in the district.
"The being not forthright, upfront first with the student council body and then with the public at large only adds to that sense that there is an issue here," the anonymous parent said.
Here's the district's full statement:
PRINCIPAL BAUER'S EMAIL TO SUSSEX HAMILTON HIGH SCHOOL FAMILIES
Tuesday afternoon, Bauer sent the following email to Sussex Hamilton High School Families:
"Good afternoon, Hamilton High School Students, Parent(s)/Guardian(s), and Staff,
I am reaching out as I would like to take this opportunity to share information and offer clarification around our application/approval process for clubs at HHS and our school district policy regarding vandalism.
Students interested in proposing a club at HHS are able to do so by completing and submitting the application to the Activities and Athletics Director. Once received, the application is initially reviewed by the Activities and Athletics Director, along with the Principal to ensure it has been fully completed. Up until recently, the application would then go to Student Council for review and they would vote as to whether or not they would recommend the club for approval. Finally, the Activities and Athletics Director and the Principal would then either approve or not approve the club's application.
On October 22, the Student Council voted on 7 club applications, including one for Club America. Mr. Newcomer and I received the applications on October 23. The six other club applications were recommended for approval by the Student Council. However, the Club America application was not recommended for approval by the Student Council.
To my knowledge, this is the only club application that has ever been not recommended for approval by the Student Council. After conversations with Mr. Newcomer (HHS Activities and Athletics Director), Ms. Marklund and Ms. Draeger (two of our HHS Student Council Advisors), Dr. Mielke (HSD Superintendent), and Mr. Doyle and Ms. Goike (HHS Associate Principals) along with compliance of the Equal Access Act of 1984, I approved all seven club applications on October 24. I requested right away to speak with Student Council and was invited to speak at the next Student Council Executive Board Meeting on November 12. I also spoke to students at the next Student Council General Meeting on November 19. In hindsight, I should have requested a special meeting the week of October 27-31 to speak with the entire Student Council rather than waiting for their next meeting. I did not inform the entire student body of any club applications that were approved nor do I believe this has ever been a practice in the past.
In the near future a co-written letter from Student Council and myself will be shared to communicate that, moving forward, Student Council will no longer vote to recommend approval of club applications. This change is being made to ensure all school board policies and laws are being followed.
In regards to vandalism, Board Policy 443.7 [go.boarddocs.com] has been around for over 30 years and since the beginning of the 2024-25 school year has been enforced with as much consistency and fairness as possible by the HHS Administrative Team. Per this policy, "Any student who intentionally damages school property or equipment" is engaging in vandalism. The Hamilton School District 2025-26 Behavioral Consequences Progressive Discipline Guide (Summer, 2025 [hamilton.k12.wi.us]) specifies that "Intentionally damaging any school property or private property while under school jurisdiction" is a major offense and is therefore punishable regardless of previous conduct.
Unfortunately, we have had a number of cases of vandalism where a student has taken down a club poster that was not theirs to take down. In these cases, which have been brought to our attention and investigated several times since the beginning of the 2024-25 school year (5 Club America posters and 2 Gender Sexuality Alliance posters) each student who has admitted to or we had video proof of taking down a poster that was not theirs has served a one-day out-of-school suspension for vandalism.
On November 20, I sat down with a television news reporter from a Milwaukee TV station to answer her questions about this policy as well as our process for approving clubs. The interview lasted for approximately 45 minutes. Unfortunately, very little of that conversation was included in the story that ultimately aired on television and was shared on social media.
While our school community has not received any threats to safety, I have become the target of hateful phone calls, emails and social media posts from individuals who do not reside within our district. Therefore I want to be fully transparent with our families so you receive this information directly from me.
This is the entire statement [hamilton.k12.wi.us] that we are sharing with the media today, as we have been informed the reporter is working on a follow up to the initial story that aired last week. We hope sharing this information with you directly will help answer your questions and address any misconceptions or inaccuracies.
If you have additional questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out.
Take care,
Dominic Bauer
Hamilton High School Principal"
EDITORIAL NOTE
It's important to note, TMJ4 crews were at Sussex Hamilton High School on Thursday, November 20, 2025 for about 45 minutes. The entire interview with Bauer lasted 25 minutes and three seconds.
TMJ4 did not edit or change any of the words, language, or context in Bauer's interview.
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