By Heather Graves
Correspondent
GREEN BAY – A Green Bay school board trustee finds herself the subject of an investigation alleging several policy violations.
Documents obtained by The Press Times through an open records request accuse Trustee Rhonda Sitnikau of violating six board policies on several occasions.
Attorney Eileen Brownlee, with Boardman Clark from Madison, said she was contacted by Board President Brenda Warren in October 2019 to conduct an investigation to determine if Sitnikau engaged in “conduct unbecoming a board member.”
Sitnikau was appointed to the board in October 2017. She was re-elected to the seat in 2018 for a three-year term.
The investigation, which cost $9,505, yielded a 10-page report the board received Friday, March 6.
According to the report, Brownlee interviewed 10 people, reviewed hundreds of emails and Facebook posts, watched portions of 12 board meetings and reviewed between 20 to 25 board policies in connection with the five-month investigation.
Sitnikau called the investigation an “abuse of power and tax dollars.”
Report findings
Policies Sitnikau allegedly violated include conflicts of interest, behavior and ethical standards, workplace harassment and bullying and trustee authority.
The findings include:
• On three separate occasions, Sitnikau received complaints from parents or staff members. In none of those cases did she forward the complaints to or consult with the superintendent regarding the complaints.
• On numerous occasions, Sitnikau asked for information, documents and other materials, which distracts staff from other obligations. Requests have come in the form of texts and emails during working hours, in the evening and on the weekends.
• Rather than attempting to build relationships with administrative staff, Sitnikau bullies them. Allegations include: Taunting administrators at board meetings, using Facebook to misrepresent statements made or actions taken by administration, undermining administrators by disparaging them without having a factual basis, using her position as a trustee to create a hostile and intimidating work environment for administration.
• Sitnikau failed to avoid conflicts of interest by representing individuals in matters in which other staff or interested parties are otherwise involved.
• Sitnikau made disparaging comments to teacher union leadership about their executive director. Wisconsin Statute makes it a prohibited practice to interfere with the formation or administration of any labor organization.
• Sitnikau has been absent from, or has left meetings when confronted with issues or harassment, bullying or matters for which she declines to be responsible. She was the only board member who failed to attend or later watch the harassment/bullying training provided by the district’s liability insurer. She left two school board meetings at which the issues of harassment/bullying were addressed. She refused to participate in the evaluation of the superintendent, choosing instead to issue a press release.
Recommendations
The report didn’t say whether Sitnikau should be disciplined, nor did it include suggestions of what the discipline would look like.
However, the report did state “if there is a clear violation of policy, the board and/or administration should hold the violator accountable irrespective of who the violator is.”
Other recommendations include: further defining the terms transparency and accountability, review district policies and in-service training.
In her report, Brownlee said Sitnikau declined to meet with her as part of the investigation.
“I contacted Miss Sitnikau in early November,” Brownlee said. “She initially agreed to meet and later determined that she did not want to meet without being given information on the specifics of the matters being investigated.”
Brownlee said district policies do not allow her to provide Sitnikau with what she requested.
“I would not do that in advance as district policy states that complaints should be treated as confidentially as possible,” she said.
Brownlee said Sitnikau viewed this as a violation of due process.
Sitnikau’s response
Sitnikau is calling the investigation and report a mechanism to “mischaracterize, villainize and silence” her.
“Bureaucratic institutions do not like to be questioned or criticized,” she said. “At a time where we are closing schools and scrambling to find supplies for teachers, I am deeply disappointed with the abuse of power and tax dollars.”
Sitnikau said she was made aware of the investigation by a board member in October.
“I was never officially notified by the district or the board,” she said. “I was never given any formal notice that the investigation was going to be conducted.”
Sitnikau said she declined an interview with the investigator because she was uncomfortable participating without knowledge of specific accusations.
Sitnikau said she went to great lengths to get details, including reaching out to administration and board leadership, and making an open records request in November.
Sitnikau said the district retained a separate outside investigator for her request.
She said it took more than a week to be contacted and she never received any requested information.
Sitnikau said she is frustrated by the lack of supportive documentation.
“I was seeking information related to specific accusations used to create a report,” she said. “To reiterate, I have received nothing. The report itself doesn’t have any supportive documents to clarify findings. As far as I’m aware, the board of education never received any supportive documents either. It is amazing to me that an investigation of an elected official can be done in such a covert way with zero transparency.”
The invoice from Brownlee was included in the documents The Press Times received with the last charge from Dec. 20, 2019.
Sitnikau said more charges will be coming, because work continued into the new year.
“From the first day that I started serving on the school board, I was committed to asking the questions necessary and seeking answers in the best interest of all kids and the Green Bay Area Public Schools community,” she said. “I am, and will continue to, be committed to those statutory duties.”
District response
Warren and Superintendent Michelle Langenfeld were contacted for a statement. Both directed inquires to Brownlee.
Brownlee said there’s no statement regarding the investigation or report.
Trustee Kristina Shelton posted a statement on her public school board member Facebook page.
Shelton said the board was approached in October 2019 regarding employee allegations against Sitnikau.
“Due to the nature of the allegations (which I cannot legally provide details about), the board approved the investigation with the intent of looking into the specific allegations reported to the board,” Shelton said.
Shelton said three things were clear through the report.
“One, the investigation lacked a clear purpose and scope within the constraints of the original allegation,” she said. “Two, due to lack of purpose and scope, the investigation went off track from the original allegation. And three, the report does not seem to provide compelling evidence to determine a clear violation of board policy.”
Sarah Pamperin, sixth grade bilingual teacher at Edison Middle School, expressed disappointment with spending nearly $10,000 on the investigation during the public forum portion of the board meeting March 9.
“I’ve done the math, we could get flexible seating for 13 classrooms in our district for that amount of money,” she said. “Also doing the math, 114,060 pencils for my students, or 237 packets of school supplies that they get at the beginning of the school year. Transportation for secondary students wanting to attend summer school. Retention-based initiative for bilingual education teachers.”