The Shawano School Board heard a new claim of an administrator attacking a student Feb. 10, only this time from the parent of a Shawano Community High School student.
Adriana Moses told the board how her son, a senior on the football team, called her one night during the week of homecoming to say he’d been attacked by Joel Wondra, the high school’s athletic director, while he was out toilet papering houses with friends, a common practice during homecoming festivities.
There is currently an open court case against Wondra in Shawano County, according to online court records. Wondra was given a citation for disorderly conduct on Nov. 6, 2024. The records show the incident took place Oct. 8. There is an intake hearing for Wondra scheduled for 2 p.m. March 20 in Branch II at the Shawano County Courthouse.
Moses was not allowed to say Wondra’s name as she spoke to the board due to district policy that does not allow personal comments about Shawano School District employees, but she referred to him as the athletic director. Wondra is the only athletic director listed for the school district.
Moses said she’d sent emails to school board members regarding the incident.
“They went to this person’s home and were TP’ing this man’s home,” Moses said. “He decided to come out of his home and chase these students down the driveway, grabbed my son and assaulted him.”
Moses claimed that Wondra allegedly threw her son against a trailer twice, and that her son fell to the ground and “busted his head open” on the trailer hitch. She said that her son struggled to get away while screaming in pain.
“I get a call from my son: ‘Mom, I’ve just been assaulted by a teacher. I need to go to the hospital,’” Moses said.
She said she went to ThedaCare Medical Center-Shawano and saw her son’s head was “cracked open.” Five staples were needed to stop the bleeding, she said.
The police were called after that to get a statement from Moses’ son. She said she went to the high school and spoke with a principal about the incident, but she said she was told that no disciplinary action could be taken by the school because the incident took place off school district property.
“I understand that this happened off of school grounds, and I understand this was this man’s home,” Moses said before pointing out that the district’s handbook says assaulting students is not permitted. “This is in your handbook.”
Moses also pointed out that incidents have to be self-reported and demanded to know if Wondra reported himself to administrators. The board was unable to reply due to its policy of not discussing items that aren’t on the meeting agenda.
“I don’t know how to fight for my child’s safety — and not only for my child’s safety, but what about other children’s safety?” Moses said. “There’s going to be homecoming next year and the year to follow and the year to follow.”
She added that her son’s injury prevented him from playing his last two high school football games, including the homecoming game.
“You don’t know what it’s like to be a mother and have your son call you at night, and he’s scared or he’s in a hospital bed with his head busted open from one of your staff members,” Moses said, fighting back tears. “Then he gets to go to school and see him every day. My son is a good kid. He didn’t deserve that.”
Moses said she wanted Wondra terminated, noting that the location of his home is known to students and that what happened to her son could happen to someone else.
“If they go to his house next year, will another kid be assaulted?” Moses said. “Is another kid going to have their head busted open or worse?”
Superintendent Kurt Krizan issued a statement by email Feb. 11 to NEW Media, saying the school district was made aware of the “claim” and conducted an investigation.
“The conclusion of our investigation was discussed with district legal counsel, and we are fully cooperating with the Shawano County Police (sic) Department as a part of their investigation,” Krizan wrote.
When asked if any kind of review was being done regarding administrator behavior with students, Krizan wrote that he had no further comments.
This is the second time in 2025 that the school board has received an accusation of an administrator hurting a student, with the first one coming in January about an unnamed administrator at Hillcrest Primary School allegedly pushing a student against a wall and scratching her face. After that claim, Krizan wrote a statement saying the district’s investigation concluded there was no evidence to support the claim.
This isn’t the first time Wondra has come under fire at a school board meeting. In January 2024, a student representative for the board reported she’d heard from a number of students that boys’ sports were getting preferential treatment over girls’ sports. At the next school board meeting in February 2024, board president Mike Musolff said that a Title IX investigation was launched into the discrimination claims, but no evidence of violations was found.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
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