The division between the City of Whitewater and the Whitewater Unified School District appears to be widening amid allegations of open meetings violations and discussion on potential legal action expected at a May 20 common council meeting.
The council will meet in closed session with its legal counsel at the start of its regularly scheduled 6 p.m. meet- ing Tuesday regarding “strategy and legal considerations related to potential violations of the Wisconsin Open Meetings Law and Wisconsin Public Records Law,” specifically citing the Whitewater Unified School District’s handling of the school resource officer contract process.
Reporter Ryan Spoehr detailed the issues in a May 20 story published in the Daily Jefferson County Union in Fort Atkinson.
According to the story, City Manager John Weidl and Superintendent Caroline Pate-Hefty, on April 30, issued multiple press releases in one day challenging the other’s handling of the process. On Friday, May 16, Weidl issued a memo to the council, referencing a meeting that same day with district officials and criticizing what he called a“lack of transparency” in the request for proposal process.
“The intent is to document how the district did not engage in good-faith negotiation, likely violated Wisconsin Open Meetings Law, and has withheld key documents that informed its decision-making, all while signaling that it would still welcome a bid from the city. I am requesting formal council direction on how to proceed,” Weidl wrote in the memo.
In the memo, Weidl further criticized the school board’s lack of consideration of the 120-day extension of the school resource officer agreement the common council approved on April 15. According to the memo, a May 16 meeting between city and district officials did not include discussion from the district regarding the extension, nor a letter regarding an extension from Police Chief Meyer.
It also alleges there was a “grievances document” that was written by a school board member in closed session. Weidl wrote the document had not been shared with the city and that he would be filing an open records request with the district if it isn’t shared by the time of the May 20 council meeting. Pate-Hefty did not immediately respond Monday May 19 to a request for comment.
