Parent Sues Waukesha Schools Over COVID-19, North WI PAC Funds It

WISCONSIN — A parent in the School District of Waukesha filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Waukesha school board and its superintendent after her child fell sick with the coronavirus, alleging that they failed to follow federal COVID-19 prevention guidelines

Shannon Jensen, whose three children attend a Waukesha elementary school, sued members of the Waukesha Board of Education, Superintendent James Sebert and Deputy Superintendent Joe Koch, according to the lawsuit complaint.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, alleged that members of the school board deprived students of their constitutional rights when they voted in May to remove COVID-19 mitigation procedures such as masking.

The lawsuit seeks an immediate injunction to force Waukesha schools to comply with federal and state coronavirus mitigation guidelines.

The Minocqua Brewing Co. Super PAC, a political action committee that started in Northern Wisconsin in January, is funding the lawsuit in order to force Waukesha schools to comply with federal guidelines, the PAC said. Company owner and PAC founder Kirk Bangstad filed to run for state Assembly in May 2020 as a Democrat.

The lawsuit also asked to identify other school districts in the Eastern District of Wisconsin that aren’t following federal rules and include them in the defendant class, the PAC said.

The Waukesha school district received the COVID-19 complaint for filing, but it hasn’t been formally served, Sebert told Patch. Sebert said the district contacted its attorneys.

Patch reached out to Jensen for comment.

"The goal is to get a judge to create a temporary injunction against these school boards to force them to put masks on kids too young to get vaccinated, start doing contact tracing and testing right away," Bangstand told Patch.

The school district voted in May to remove most of its COVID-19 mitigation policies, including its face mask requirements, despite federal and state guidance.

A district memo from early July said it will follow a mask optional policy.

• Students will not be required to prescreen in the mornings.
• The district will not limit classes moving from one room to another.
• Elementary students will have specials (art, music, physical education) in their designated classrooms.
• Visitors and volunteers will again be allowed in the schools.

When the school year started, many of her child's classmates didn't wear masks, Jensen said in the lawsuit. In mid-September, one of her child's classmates had COVID-19 symptoms and was sent home. Her child sat next to the sick classmate, who didn’t wear a mask, for two days, the suit says. A few days later, Jensen's child tested positive for COVID-19.

Jensen was responsible for providing schooling for her children for 10 days while her child quarantined. The suit said the district “no longer had a plan in place to provide educational assistance to children missing school due to COVID-19.”

If a judge grants the injunction and it stands long enough for the Food and Drug Administration to authorize a COVID-19 vaccine for younger kids, then it would be a win for the PAC and students, Bangstad said.

Other school boards that have tried to enact virus mitigation policies have been hammered by angry parents driven by right-wing talk radio across the nation and in Wisconsin, Bangstad said.

"Our government feels like their hands are tied, and I don't know any other groups that are trying to protect school students," Bangstad said. "I'd rather be selling beer than taking school boards to court, but I felt something needed to be done, and our [committee] has money to spend politically."

Using COVID-19 mitigation practices such as masking is a district decision, but both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Wisconsin Department of Instruction recommended that all students and staff wear masks while indoors at school.

The School District of Waukesha reported 104 positive COVID-19 cases in its schools in the first week of October. Some 183 students were in self-quarantine as of Friday, district data showed.

See Also:
COVID-19: Positive Cases In Waukesha Schools