Suring School District saga far from over

This year is not the best one for some local school districts. I’ve written my fair share about the strife that the Shawano School District is going through, with a mass exodus of staff, a disconnect between the district administration and the community, and the looming possibility that there will be fewer dollars to pay for building needs and provide staff with a paycheck.

However, when I’ve been out and about in the community, I’ve mentioned to folks that it could be worse — like with the Suring School District.

While Shawano’s superintendent is not very popular with folks in the community, at least Randi Anderson hasn’t been charged with any crimes like Kelly Casper was. Suring was shaken to the core earlier this year with the news that several teenage girls had been stripped down to their underwear while a search was conducted for vaping devices. It didn’t just cause the community to rage against school officials, it prompted the district attorney to file charges and claim false imprisonment, which could have resulted in a six-year sentence for each of the six counts.

The legal drama, at least for now, has come to an end as charges against Casper were dismissed last week. However, the aftershocks of this figurative earthquake are still being felt. Casper opted to leave the district entirely and, even though there is an interim superintendent in place, eventually new leadership will need to be found. That is going to require some tough questions to be asked.

Despite the fact that it was determined that no crime had been committed, it doesn’t diminish the reality that the girls involved in the scandal have been impacted. They were stripped without parents being informed beforehand, so any candidates hoping to be the new head of the district will need to be asked how they view discipline in general and also how such incidents will be handled in the future. Anyone adopting Casper’s philosophy for handling students potentially possessing contraband should be passed over.

Besides hiring someone that won’t potentially put the school district in legal turmoil faster than a speeding bullet, the Suring School Board should also adopt rules that show the boundaries of what administrators can do when disciplining students. Just as the popular corporal punishment of yesteryear has faded into history, the ability for administrators to strip students arbitrarily should also be curtailed. Casper obviously saw nothing wrong with her actions at the time, but a written policy would make it clear that such decisions should not be repeated.

The school board might also want to do an audit of how it addresses such incidents in the future. The strip searches took place Jan. 18, but it took almost six weeks for the board to make a statement, instead ducking behind closed doors at least three times to discuss the issue. At the very least, board members should be prepared to face the public after its first closed session, should a severe incident take place again.

Parents and community members should insist on being a part of rebuilding efforts. Trust has been shattered for many in Suring, similarly to what’s been going on in Shawano, and the only way the school can ever be seen with a modicum of respect is to keep the lines of communication wide open, well beyond what’s expected. Districts are already seeing a loss in student enrollment; being seen as a district where adults can potentially make you naked and afraid risks losing students even faster, along with the state aid that comes with their being a part of the school system.

Needless to say, what has happened in Suring is a reminder of the importance for parents to take an active role in their children’s education. While the whole community doesn’t need to create standing-room only conditions at school board meetings, keeping abreast of what’s going on in the school system can help reduce the chance that something like this will happen again.

Everyone has some heavy homework in the next few months. It’s time to get at it.

Lee Pulaski is the city editor for NEW Media. Readers can contract him at lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com.