Timeline: Waukesha's 'Rainbowland' Teacher And Why She Was Fired

Editor's note: This story has been updated to provide additional comments from Melissa Tempel, the teacher who was fired. A previous version of this article misquoted a tweet from Tempel and misstated her role in planning the song "Rainbowland," but it has been updated. We regret the errors.

WAUKESHA, WI — Melissa Tempel, the Waukesha elementary school teacher who publicly criticized her school's decision to bar a Miley Cyrus song from her first-grade spring concert, was fired Wednesday by the Waukesha Board of Education on an argument that she violated several policies.

It all started in late March when "Rainbowland," a 2017 song featuring Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus, was being considered for a first-grade spring concert involving Tempel's dual language class and other first-grade classes. An earlier version of this article said Tempel suggested the song, but Tempel said she did not, rather, the song was among a slate of suggestions by the school's music teacher, Jared Ziegler.

"I did not find the song, ask for the song, or select the song," said Tempel. "The music teacher was organizing a concert and asked the other first grade teacher and asked if we liked the song, we said yes, he put it on the set list. There were dozens of songs discussed during this time."

But soon after "Rainbowland" was being considered, Heyer Elementary Principal Mark Schnieder decided it could be "too controversial" and he sought to change the song. Soon after, Tempel took to Twitter to share concerns about the decision.

To better understand what happened and the arguments used by the board to fire Tempel, we broke down a timeline from March—when the controversy erupted—until Wednesday, when Tempel was terminated.

To compile this timeline, a Patch reporter attended Wednesday's meeting, where witnesses testified to the Waukesha School board about the investigation into Melissa Tempel. We also looked into Tempel's social media posts, various news media reports and district communications to local news media.

March 21 - Heyer Elementary Principal Decides Against "Rainbowland," Claims It Was Possibly Inappropriate

Out of the public's immediate eye on March 21, Heyer Elementary School Principal Mark Schneider received an email from his school's music teacher, Jared Ziegler, wondering if "Rainbowland" could be performed at a spring concert. Schneider testified that he received an email with a link to the song's music video, and that Ziegler was just wondering if the Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus duet was OK to include.

An earlier version of this article said the request to play the song circulated from Tempel to Ziegler then the principal, but Tempel said that is not true. Instead, Ziegler included the song in a list of suggestions in an earlier discussion with Tempel and other teachers before asking Schneider if it was appropriate.

When posed with the question, Schneider called up Director of Elementary Learning Melissa Yow as a "thought partner" to walk through the question, he told the board.

"We both agreed that there are better options for a first-grade concert," Schneider said. "We decided that the artist of the song can be considered controversial. If students are Googling or researching one of the artists [Miley Cyrus], some inappropriate images or videos could have appeared. I just thought that there's better options for a first-grade concert."

"Just knowing some of the past events that occurred with her and some of the images that she portrays. I just don't feel it's appropriate for first graders, 6 or 7-year-olds," Schneider said of Miley Cyrus.

There was no discussion of rainbows factored into the decision, Schneider claimed. At one point, CBS58 reported that Superintendent James Sebert and the school board's president said the song was dropped because "the subject matter addressed by the song's lyrics."

In March, Patch asked readers across southeastern Wisconsin if "Rainbowland" is too controversial for first-graders to perform. The survey was not scientific and simply to gauge opinion. Of 565 respondents, 490 said the song is not controversial, while 75 respondents said it is.

After coming to his decision, Schnieder said he asked Ziegler to choose a different song. They tentatively settled on "Rainbow Connection" by Kermit the Frog, and Ziegler was on board, according to the principal's testimonial.

By the next day, the public would know "Rainbowland" was excluded from the concert as Tempel took to Twitter that evening with a post tagging the district, Dolly Parton, Miley Cyrus, and other organizations. She also posted a screenshot of the song's lyrics.

"My first graders were so excited to sing 'Rainbowland' for our spring concert but it has been vetoed by our administration," wrote Tempel around 6:40 p.m. "When will it end?"

A reporter for The Waukesha Freeman responded to the tweet asking "Are you a teacher in Waukesha? What school was supposed to sing it and what was the reason given?"

Tempel responded briefly: "Heyer Elementary. No reason given."

An earlier version of this article incorrectly said Tempel responded to the reporter explaining she was a teacher, but Tempel clarified that her response did not identify herself as a teacher.

It wasn't until three days after the decision to exclude the song that the district explained why.

March 22 - Tempel's Pubic Questioning Of Song Ban Reaches Principal's Desk

Schneider said he became aware of Tempel's post on Twitter when staff members showed him it and other posts made in a Facebook group. He also started to receive media requests asking if the decision was about rainbows, he explained Wednesday.

It was all just days before spring break began, Schneider explained.

When he viewed Tempel's Twitter post, he said he was "taken aback" and that he had only worked with Ziegler, but not Tempel, on approving songs for the spring concert. He said Tempel didn't reach out with her concerns about the decision, and that in his eight years of experience, it was always Ziegler planning the concerts.

Schneider said once the situation took off, he realized it was becoming an issue but wasn't sure what was happening. He told Ziegler he was holding off on a song approval decision, including for "Rainbow Connection."

"I didn't realize that it was turning into a bigger deal," Schneider testified. "And I just needed some time. I said I can't approve anything at this point."

In a statement to Patch, Tempel responded to Schneider's claims about holding off on approval.

"Schneider may have said this at the hearing, however, there were several songs in the set list for the concert- Here Comes the Sun, What a Wonderful World, De Colores, It's a Small World," Tempel told Patch in response to Schneider's claims. "We were only told that Rainbow Connection was not allowed at that time."

By that evening, around 7 p.m., Tempel tweeted again saying "Rainbow Connection" had also been banned from the spring concert list.

March 23 - Principal Approves Replacement Song While Questions Begin

Parents started asking Schneider what the deal was with "Rainbowland," he said. But he also started receiving more media requests, he explained, and other communications from outside of the Waukesha community, and voicemails that were "oftentimes very vulgar, lots of inappropriate language."

Schneider said he got over 100 emails and around 30 to 40 phone calls, many of which came later over the spring break period.

"The majority were very disgusting, quite honestly. Calling me every name in the book from a bigot, a homophobe, a Nazi; That I'll burn in hell..." he said.

"I was concerned for my safety, but most importantly, the school and the student's safety."

Schneider told the board he met again with Ziegler to discuss the theme for the concert and what songs would be the best fit. The theme was Earth and making a better world and connecting, he said. Schneider said he then approved "Rainbow Connection."

By the evening of March 23, Tempel posted again on Twitter. She said "Rainbow Connection" was "unbanned today after parents sent emails to admin. Alliance for Education in Waukesha knows how to ally."

March 24 - District Explains Song Ban To Reporters For The First Time

The School District of Waukesha made its first comments on the situation in a news release dated March 24. It was the last day of school before spring break began. The district claimed there were a number of inaccuracies circulating and that the Board of Education was not involved in the decision to exclude "Rainbowland" from the concert.

The district claimed that a classroom teacher suggested "Rainbowland" to the music teacher, and the music teacher checked with the principal if it would be appropriate. Tempel disputed the district's narrative on who suggested the song and called it "misinformation."

"The release may have said that but it was incorrect... ...the fact that Mr. Ziegler picked the song has not been in question much, it's just been misreported that I picked the song a few times."

The district asserted the song banning came under a policy on "controversial" topics in the classroom.

"The Principal checked with a central office administrator so they could review the song together and alongside our Board Policy 2240 - Controversial Issues in the Classroom," the district wrote. "They determined that the song could be deemed controversial in accordance with the policy. The Principal asked the music teacher to look for a different song. The song selected was Rainbow Connection by Kermit the Frog."

The policy on controversial issues in the classroom defines a controversial issue as "a topic on which opposing points of view have been promulgated by responsible opinion and likely to arouse both support and opposition in the community."

The district insisted that "Rainbow Connection" will be performed alongside other pieces of music at the spring concert.

The district did not immediately further clarify what about the song "Rainbowland" may be controversial, and the principal's apparent deciding factors were not publicly revealed until the hearing to fire Tempel in July.

In the following days over spring break, Schneider testified, he worked with district administrators to make sure "we erred on the side of caution and protected and ensured the safety of staff students and families."

They decided they needed to have a large police presence at arrival and dismissal and throughout the day when students return from spring break.

Spring Break - Tempel Continues To Publicly Discuss "Rainbowland" Decision

Spring break began the weekend of March 25 and ran through the following weekend with the next school day on April 3, according to the district's calendar. During that time, Tempel continued to post on Twitter while news media discussions about the story began to swirl.

On March 26, Tempel posted on Twitter about the decision to bar Rainbowland: "Why Rainbowland? My guess: The beautiful lyrics. Because saying an artist is controversial would be a very slippery slope and they wouldn't want to go there. Amirite?"

In the coming days, Tempel continued to share on Twitter, sometimes about the "Rainbowland" decision and other times not. On March 27, she announced Barack Obama was now following her on Twitter and again tagged the school district.

On March 28, Tempel said on Twitter she had "an emotional interview" on CNN. By March 29, she reshared several more media stories including ones from The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. On March 30, Tempel shared a Tweet by Miley Cyrus' "Happy Hippie Foundation" which responded to the controversy.

Other articles started to target Tempel. The Lion, a publication from the Christian education advocacy group The Herzog Foundation, published an article on March 28 calling the bilingual teacher a "teacher activist" and pointed toward social media posts, one where Tempel was wearing rainbow accessories and another where she talked about the decision to block "Rainbowland."

Parent Stacy Keene told the Christian education outlet, "It's not about the song... ...it's about this activist teacher in our schools..."

Throughout spring break, according to Schneider, the school continued to receive messages and opinions on the decision.

When Patch asked Waukesha Police Captain Dan Baumann on March 31 if there were any credible threats to the school or district, he referred the question to the schools.

"Are we conducting any investigations? You know, we receive routinely receive threats, but then realize that they're anonymous," Baumann said. "They're from another state, someone's angry, you know, they're mentally unstable in another state then post something on social media because it's so easy to post anything on the media, but there's no credibility to it. Right? It's more rhetoric. People are just spewing out the mouth."

"If there's a credible threat that's made against the district, at whatever capacity, they're going to make us aware of it, and we're going to investigate it ad nauseam," Baumann later continued.

"Have there been, in full transparency, there have been comments made or, messages sent to members of the community in regards to this, people posting stuff on social media or stuff like that—yeah," Baumann said in a phone call in late March. "But that happens every day. It's not just a direct impact on Waukesha or the School District of Waukesha."

Tempel said she never made it back to her classroom after spring break, according to a GoFundMe that was set up for her and a separate news release from the Alliance for Education in Waukesha. She learned she was placed on administrative leave on April 3 when she walked back in for a normal school day after break.

April 3 - Tempel Put On Leave And An Investigation Begins

Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Sharon Thiede was instructed by Superintendent James Sebert to place Tempel on leave when she returned from spring break, and to begin an investigation into possible policy violations, she testified Wednesday.

That investigation included reviewing social media posts, dozens of news articles, interviews with people involved, Tempel's personnel file, plus voicemails and emails received from people after the controversy arose, she said. Thiede explained some posts from Tempel had been later deleted.

In the course of her investigation, Thiede found that Tempel violated several policies in her online behavior, she testified, including Policy 3179, Policy 3213 and Policy 331o.

"Ultimately, she disagreed with the decision to not include the song, which she can do, but she did not follow the proper protocol to express that disagreement," Thiede testified.

Policy 3179 requires employees to first discuss a concern with their immediate supervisor and then go up the chain of command if it is not resolved, Thiede said. Employees should also follow the chain of command when offering a suggestion or comment, she said.

But Tempel "did not follow the chain of command if she was to express her concern that she was upset about Rainbowland not being included in that concert," Thiede said. "Instead she posted her concern and opinion on Twitter... ...to bring negative attention to the district by tagging the district, tagging media outlets."

Thiede said Tempel violated Policy 3213 with one post in which she "talked about her students being excited to sing a song and being upset that they were not able to sing the song and ultimately engaged her students when stating 'if my students see this I really hope that they see that even if you're just a teacher you can speak out.'"

Thiede said it was "concerning," and broke policy, because "she's engaging her students on social media."

Thiede claimed Tempel violated Policy 3310 as well, which regulates how employees express themselves. She said that when there may be conflicts between the district's interests and an employee's expression, the employee "should clearly state that the expression represents a personal view and not that of the district." Further, the policy said employees should refrain from expressions that would "disrupt harmony among coworkers or interfere with the maintenance or discipline by school officials, and refrain from making public expressions that may be false or without regard to truth or accuracy."

Tempel violated Policy 3310, Thiede said claiming that she represented herself as an educator in the district and her expressions disrupted the harmony or were at times false.

Thiede asserted one way Tempel "connected" her account to the district was by tagging the district on social media.

Thiede said Tempel's actions undermined the interests of the district "by posting and then the subsequent safety issues, we had to divert a lot of our time and attention to investigating and working through this."

In a statement to Twitter on July 16, Tempel said her legal team "was unable to evaluate the truth of the district's assertions regarding disruption and safety - they refused to provide any records in response to our open records request. We never saw any of the 100s of emails, we heard 12 voicemails, and that's all."

By the end of Thiede's investigation, she said she provided a report to Superintendent Sebert but was not responsible for making any recommendations on the type or level of discipline Tempel should receive.

May 15 - Investigation Wraps Up And Superintendent Recommends Termination

Tempel learned on May 15 that Superintendent Sebert was giving the board of education a recommendation to terminate her employment, according to a news release on May 17 from the advocacy group Alliance for Education in Waukesha. The recommendation came after Thiede's investigation was handed off to Sebert.

Sebert said he was among the employees who received messages and emails about the situation, including ones that were vulgar.

Amid the situation, Sebert testified he had safety concerns for the district and was part of discussions to bring in additional police presence after spring break.

"Our job as a school district, as employees, as administration, is educating children," testified Sebert. "In order to do that we have policies and procedures in place in the best interest of our employees and students. When employees choose to go around these policies or deliberately violate those policies, it places incredible burden" on the district.

"In this particular instance, Ms. Tempel deliberately brought negative attention to the school district because she disagreed with a decision," said Sebert.

"Her behaviors were designed to bring as much negative attention to the school district as possible," Sebert claimed, while pointing toward a message between Tempel and a reporter and tagging Waukesha schools in posts.

Sebert also testified that one staff member was very concerned about the situation and had sent emails to the principal about finding a "lack of harmony."

At one point, Sebert called Tempel's sharing of her opinion and the ensuing situation "intolerable."

July 12 - Waukesha School Board Hears Evidence And Fires Tempel

Lawyers for the district and Tempel provided opening and closing statements on Wednesday alongside interviewing witnesses.

Representing the district, Christina A. Katt asserted that Tempel engaged in a "media campaign to publicly undermine the district" and claimed that Tempel did so without knowing the reasoning behind the song's banning.

"She didn't ask to speak with any district administrator. Instead, she made sweeping assumptions about the district's intentions and immediately took to social media," said Katt.

"To be clear, Mr. Schneider's decision about which songs should be sung at the first aid concert is not at issue here today," Katt said. "Rather, the issue is Miss Tempel's choice to express her disagreement with her employer in a way that was inappropriate and had severe consequences for the district and was in violation of district policies."

In closing, the attorney for Tempel cited the recent U.S. Supreme Court case involving Coach Kennedy, a high school football coach who would pray on the field after school games and was fired over it. Tempel's attorney likened her situation to Kennedy v. Farmington School District, in which the Supreme Court reinstated Kennedy.

"Tweeting is not the type of speech that's ordinarily within the duties of a first-grade teacher, just like praying is not one of the duties of a high school coach," said Tempel's lawyers. "You can choose to terminate Ms. Tempel today, despite the fact that she testified she was acting on her own time on her own personal account."

"You can end this here today. You can vote to allow her to keep her job, and recognize that teachers don't shed their rights to engage in discussions simply by virtue of the fact they are a teacher," said Tempel's lawyer. "Now is the time to send a resounding message to this district, to teachers, to this community, that you respect their constitutional rights even if you don't agree."

The board went into a closed session after around four hours of testimony. Around an hour later, they announced they decided to terminate Tempel's contract. After the decision to terminate on Wednesday, a lawyer for Tempel told TMJ4 news the case wasn't about culture wars or rainbows but rather constitutional rights, and that they plan on moving ahead with a First Amendment claim in federal court.

July 13 - Board of Education Explains Why They Fired Tempel, Reactions Begin

The Waukesha Board of Education released a two-page statement on Thursday after they heard arguments and decided to fire Tempel. The board asserted it was not firing her over any "prohibited basis," such as Tempel's First Amendment rights.

The board said it fired Tempel based on evidence presented at that hearing that shows she violated the employee handbook. The board said she violated policies 3179 (“Employee Concerns”), Board Policy 3213 (“Student Supervision and Welfare”), and Board Policy 3310 (“Employee Expression in Noninstructional Settings”).

"The decision of the Board was not about any particular song, that may or may not have been selected for a concert, but the process by which an employee goes about expressing their concerns in a productive manner in accordance with Board Policy," the board statement reads. "The testimony and evidence presented during the hearing demonstrated that Ms. Tempel repeatedly misstated the circumstances of her supervisor’s decision, leading to substantial liability to the District, disruption to the learning environment and threat of harm to the welfare of students and staff."

The Alliance for Education in Waukesha, an advocacy group that has worked with Tempel and closely followed the controversy, reacted to the decision on Thursday as well.

"The administration blamed Ms.Tempel for bringing negative attention to the School District of Waukesha (SDW) when she questioned the administration’s decision not to allow a first grade class to sing the song 'Rainbowland'. Ms. Tempel, and the public, had good reason to question the administration’s decision," wrote the advocacy organization in a statement.

"Parents and the community are not getting transparency in education from our Board or from our superintendent. Transparency comes from the protection of the First Amendment for public employees like Ms. Tempel," wrote the advocacy group. "Dr. Sebert’s own statements to the parent advisory council, and his past actions, demonstrate that Ms. Tempel, and the community, have good reason to question his motives and to speak publicly about his decisions. We thank Ms. Tempel for providing the transparency that our administration will not provide."

More Patch coverage on "Rainbowland" In Waukesha's Heyer Elementary:

Waukesha School Board Explains Firing Of 'Rainbowland' Teacher

Teacher Fired After 'Rainbowland' Controversy In Waukesha

'Rainbowland' Controversy Sparks Demonstration In Waukesha: Photos

Waukesha 'Rainbowland' Teacher Says District Plans To Fire Her

Waukesha Teacher Who Suggested 'Rainbowland' For Concert Put On Leave

Is 'Rainbowland' Too Controversial For Waukesha's First Graders?

'Rainbowland' Too Controversial For Waukesha First Graders: District