A Mukwonago parent claimed partial victory after an agreement filed with the Waukesha County Circuit Court dismissed the lawsuit a Kenosha reporter and he brought against the Mukwonago Area School District over the release of records pertaining to a teacher accused of inappropriate actions involving students.
The settlement was detailed in an April 18, 2025 piece authored by Brian Huber in the Waukesha Freeman. Kenneth Sallee, the parent, and Kevin Mathewson, who works for the online Kenosha County Eye, sued the MASD and its superintendent, Joe Koch, asking a judge to order the district to release the records they requested.
The men brought the suit after they unsuccessfully sought records related to a teacher who was placed on administrative leave, then resigned after being accused of “grooming” Sallee’s daughter and making comments regarding another student. Two weeks after a hearing regarding the case in March, the sides filed an agreement and the case was dismissed. Sallee added he is still awaiting information in the case, such as records related to how much the district spent on attorneys related to the case.
In the story, Sallee praised the state transparency law.
“If school administrators do not want to be transparent with that,” Sallee is quoted as saying in part, “then the Wisconsin Open Records Law is very strong to help get that information.”
