WRIGHTSTOWN, Wis. (WFRV) – A petition is circulating in Wrightstown seeking to recall school board president Angela Hansen-Winker.
School board member Rayn Warner said he started the petition last month after community members reached out to him. He said they already have over 700 signatures and need 1206 to trigger a recall. He said they’re hoping to reach that number by Feb. 14.
The petition lists over 20 allegations against Hansen-Winker. Among them, allegations that she misused district funds for legal fees and used the district’s legal council for her personal matters. He claims that Hansen-Winker called the district’s attorney so many times that district officials had to increase their budget for attorney fees.
He also claimed that Hansen-Winker could have avoided incurring these extra fees for the district by utilizing legal services provided by the Wisconsin Association of School Boards. According to its website, it appears that organization does offer “fee-based attorney-client legal services.”
“I have never used district resources for personal use at all, period,” said Hansen-Winker. “Any information that suggests this is demonstrably and unequivocally false.”
“The main ones the one that call into question whether she violated any laws or ethical duties those are completely false, using resources for personal gain those are unequivocally false,” said Jen DeMaster who is Hansen-Winker’s attorney.
DeMaster said she was struck by how many different allegations against her client are in the petition. She said many of them are personal grievances or so vague that Hansen-Winker doesn’t even know what they’re in reference to.
Warner alleges in the petition that Hansen-Winker has violated several board policies.
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She doesn’t allow all Board members to add items to the agenda
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She took a picture of a sign-in sheet at a Board meeting which contained a Board member’s personal information.
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She selectively disseminates information to Board members related to matters discussed at meetings.
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She changed the location of a Board meeting last minute without proper notification. DeMaster said this happened because there was a meeting already taking place in the room where they scheduled their meeting. She said Hansen-Winker held the meeting in another room in the same building down the hall.
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Warner said she doesn’t run a ‘respectful, timely, and productive meeting.’
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She limits discussion among Board members on items on the agenda.
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Warner said Hansen-Winker’s behavior during workshops and Board meetings isn’t professional, saying she often raises her voice, telling members they are “out of line” for asking questions, calling motions to silence conversation, and grandstanding her opinion saying it is on behalf of the Board.
Hansen-Winker told Local 5 News that the problem with these allegations is that they’re not only false, but for many of them she doesn’t even know what Warner is talking about when he accuses her of these things.
She said any notion that she’s difficult to work with is misplaced.
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“I have never been difficult to work with, and I want the board to work together for the students,” she said. “I care about the students, rules, and laws, and I just do not believe in agreeing with whatever the loudest voice orders me to do if I don’t believe it is in the best interests of the students or community.
Her lawyer said it’s inappropriate to try to recall somebody simply because you don’t like working with that person. She says doing so sets a dangerous precedent.
Warner also alleges that Hansen-Winker wasn’t transparent with the Board and started an investigation into the superintendent without their approval. He said having to deal with the investigation then impeded the superintendent from doing his job.
Superintendent Andy Space announced at the end of last month that he would retire early.
“As school board president, I am authorized to permit independent internal investigations into concerns that could potentially harm our students and community,” said Hansen-Winker. “This provision is generally in place to avoid inference with independent investigations by those who may be involved in the subjects of any such investigation.”
Hansen-Winker claims that Warner is retaliating against her for helping to pass policies that he didn’t agree with. In particular, she said when she recently abstained on a vote to adopt Title IX rules until the district received more information this angered Warner.
Warner said the recall petition wasn’t done to retaliate against Hansen-Winker.
“Lack of transparency with the full Board, on how things are getting handled how things are getting spent when it comes to our legal fees,” he said when asked why he started the petition.
“The reason behind (all of this) is they’re personally attacking me because they can’t win the real issues,” Hansen-Winker said.
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Warner also said that she spoke on behalf of the Board at a political event at the Brown County Fair which to him represents a conflict of interests. Hansen-Winker said she attended a ‘NEW Patriots’ (a conservative group) event. She said this was before she was the Board’s president and she never made a speech at this event.
“There is no merit to the allegations, there is no credible evidence they’re purely attacks and political grievances, personal assaults,” she said. “I have done nothing but work countless hours on research and trying to understand state statute, Department of Public Instruction rules and regulations, attending Wisconsin School Board Association training, attended leadership courses, and board governance courses to try to figure out how to get the board back together (after she believes all this drama fractured it).”
Warner said there’s already over 700 signatures on the petition. There’s also citizen groups that have formed who want to recall Hansen-Winker.
Her attorney said there’s no legal course to stop the petition. However, they feel like if they can get correct information out there people will either not sign the petition anymore or ask for their name to get crossed off the petition if they had previously signed it.
They said they hope if they can provide the community with facts the petition won’t reach the requisite amount of signatures for a recall to occur.
“I believe it’s the right thing to do because I believe we need to be focusing on our kids so that they have a school district that they’re proud to be a part of,” Warner said.
“I would ask the community to still give me your trust because I will do everything I possibly can to make sure that this district and our Board continues to serve those students,” said Hansen-Winker.
She said the recall petition has taken a toll on her and her family. She said she has a child in the district and that another one just graduated from the district.
“Anything that I’ve ever done I’ve taken very seriously, I’ve put my whole heart into it and I’m there to serve the students and the district,” she said.
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