Discerning Whitewater

Whitewater School Board President Casey Judd recently posted an advocacy letter for masking up our children on his Facebook page (link here). This came after the Whitewater School Board has decidedly rid the school district of masks.

Judd’s post resulted in a decent backlash. Mr. Judd was asked by school administration to take down the post. Many parents were upset, as they were the target of much of his mocking and cynicism. School board members expressed their concern with email responses to constituents.

Judd responded by doubling down on his tantrum. He claimed that he was a victim of bullying. He refused to take down his social media post, and even continued to engage. His response:

Here is some background on my previous post. I just wanted to share the perspective of the people whose opinions we seek out when we, or our family members, have health issues. To be clear, the WUSD School Board voted to make masks optional for the upcoming school year. The School Board made this decision in a public meeting that followed the law and WUSD policies and for those reasons I support the decision.

So he just wanted to “share the perspective” of the other side? My opinion… sounds like Mr. Judd is making excuses and trying to squirm as lawyers do. Based on his other social media posts (shared), a reasonable person would imho come to the conclusion that Mr. Judd was giving HIS opinion via a like-minded post. Again, my opinion is that Mr. Judd’s pants are on fire. If he supported the decision, he would not be mocking parents and stirring the pot.

Let’s share a few more of his facebook posts:

Mr. Judd hits on several issues that, as a school board member, he had no business posting….

I have to admit …. this one made me chuckle. It is horrible logic, and rabid hypocrisy, but still got a chuckle out of me.

Did Mr. Judd just imply that half of the parents in the school district are stupid? Not a lot of self-control.

Per the Wisconsin Open Meetings Law Compliance Guide:

Written communications transmitted by electronic means, such as email, instant messaging,
blogging, or other social media, also may constitute a “convening of members,” depending on how
the communication medium is used.

But what does this mean? If you have ever dealt with lawyers (which really sucks and I pity you if you have), you know that they come up with criteria.

Fond du Lac School Board Member Nick Teifke made a similar mistake as Judd over the last week and ultimately resigned (link here).

Nick Teifke has tendered his letter of resignation, effective Aug. 30, following a post on his Facebook page that he has since removed that addressed the school district’s optional mask policy going into the new school year.

In his resignation letter, Teifke cited personal reasons for his decision and stated: “I regret the decisions I made have negatively impacted personal and professional relationships for myself and my family. When I first decided to run for this position, I saw a school district full of amazing educators who passionately care for our children. I want to thank all of the staff and teachers for all their hard work.”

Also from the article:

The school board president says he sees no violation of any rules. 

“I don’t think there is any issue, just sending an email doesn’t violate open meeting  laws,” Jurgella said. “He wasn’t engaging in dialogue, soliciting input or gathering votes. He didn’t ask other school board members to state their positions.”

So let’s go back to Mr. Judd and more of his social media posts:

Sticks and Stones, Mr. Judd ….. sticks and stones 🙂

Should our school board members be ripping charter schools?

What is next? Russian disinformation?

You cannot make this stuff up!!

Your school board president, ladies and gentlemen. I am kinda blown away that he still has all of these posts up.

The FDL Superintendent said that the school board member did not violate open meetings law because he did not engage dialogue, solicit input or gather votes.

When Mr. Judd referenced trolls, he clearly was engaging in dialogue. His original post, stirring the pot, was imho intended to solicit input and ultimately change minds/gather votes. This is what a reasonable person would conclude (by reasonable person, I do not mean a Clintonian lawyer).

How about a few more social media posts from Mr. Judd?

Wow.

I think it is time for Mr. Judd to resign. Open Meeting Law violations are reviewed by the County DA. I will be forwarding this info to Zeke.

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