Parents and community leaders urge DC Everest board to reinvestigate appeal alleging educator bullying

Jennifer Yang, who identified herself as a parent and gave an address listed in the transcript as 1414 Hamilton Street (Wausau), told the DC Everest Area School District board that a "detrimental decision has been made, and if not corrected, the impact of standing by that choice will cause deeper damage to the students and erode trust with the community." She said she represents "students, past and present, who are too afraid to speak out against authority" and urged the board to "reinvestigate and apply the full scale of your policies."

Mary Tow, introduced herself as representing the Thor family and said she was a former Wausau school board member and a Hmong community leader. Addressing board leadership, she said there is an appeal before the board and asked members to "quietly read" two new testimonies she handed to them. "When you have a bully who's an educator, that's a problem," she said, adding that the family did not want to go public but was highly concerned about an "unsafe learning environment."

The board president reminded speakers that concerns not on the approved agenda generally will not be addressed at that meeting and may be added to a future agenda at the request of any board member. No board member announced a formal investigation or motion in response during the public-comment period. The two public comments concluded without further board direction recorded on the transcript.

What happens next: The public comment and the testimonies the speakers said they provided become part of the record for board members to review; the transcript does not show a board vote, staff direction or a formal referral to investigate at this meeting. The appeal referenced by speakers was already on file, according to comments, but the board did not take a formal action during the session.