![]() ![]() The student, meanwhile, said he feels vindicated after months of enduring victim-blaming and experiencing anxiety so debilitating he had to withdraw from his final month of high school. ![]() "Instead, they made excuses and tried to brush his bullying under the rug, in a way that caused deep harm to our child." Multiple administrators failed to identify and bring an end to Perkin’s egregious conduct," Twan Vongphakdy said in a press release Tuesday morning. "The problems our family’s experiences have exposed are much bigger than one person. This time around, the Vongphakdys said they feel satisfied by the communication and transparency, and hope to seek full accountability that confirms his behaviors violated Title IX laws and endangered the safety of students. Twan Vongphakdy on Tuesday expressed relief over Perkins' resignation, but the saga, he said, is far from over.Īlthough the board accepted Perkins' resignation, the investigation into both his conduct and the handling of the investigation is still taking place. "Witness testimony showed a pattern of behaviors - it was not just one comment, and not just one student witnessed it." "We finally saw the investigation report, which has corroborated that he's made racist and homophobic slurs," Twan Vongphakdy said. Prior to DPI stepping in and enforcing a deadline of June 2 to submit the investigation report, the family never had an opportunity to review it, ask questions or push back against certain testimony - which is part of their legal right under Title IX law. One major deficiency in the district's investigation, as explained in its own manual, was not sharing its investigation report with both parties at several critical stages. Shortly thereafter, the decision to dismiss the Vongphakdys complaint was thrown out because district officials failed to follow multiple rules regarding how Title IX complaints should be handled. Then the Wausau Board of Education announced it was conducting its own investigation into the teacher's conduct after board members heard a litany of complaints about Perkins, some from former students, and about the district's handling of the Vongphakdys complaint against him. The state Department of Public Instruction opened an "educator misconduct investigation" in early May, after USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin first detailed a series of incidents involving Perkins A report said that while Perkins engaged in "insensitive and unprofessional conduct" and used language that was "racial or sexist," it did not rise to the level of harassment nor discrimination. The complaint was dismissed by the district in late April. The student, a senior, never returned to school after the complaint and missed scholarship awards night, although he ultimately participated in his commencement ceremony.įive days after the complaint was filed, the district placed Perkins on leave, pending an investigation. ![]() On April 5, Twan and Manee Vongphakdy of Weston and their son, who was a senior at the high school, filed a formal complaint with Superintendent Keith Hilts against Perkins, saying he directed racist and sexually dehumanizing slurs at their son, an openly gay Asian American student. The district said it will not release any additional information at this time. Robert Perkins' resignation was accepted by the Wausau School Board during its meeting Monday, according to a district news release. Almost every guest we’ve had has said they want to come back and many have expressed an interest in someday moving here.WAUSAU − A Wausau East High School band teacher who has been at the center of a harassment and discrimination controversy has resigned. We are absolutely sure you will love Wausau. It’s the best place Sara and I have ever lived and it’s a place where we consistently hear our guests say “we never knew Wausau was such an amazing place.” Even our young adult children who have lived in Madison and the Twin Cities say they love Wausau. It has a vibrant arts and cultural scene (including two renowned museums and a world class theater), great restaurants, one of the nicest downtowns in all of Wisconsin, friendly people, affordable lodging, two gorgeous and well-preserved historic districts, the best ski resort in Wisconsin (and one of the top resorts in the midwest), an Olympic qualifying kayaking and canoeing course, two fantastic micro-breweries (three, if you include the Great Dane which has multiple locations in Wisconsin), a class “B” biking rating, a wonderful new distillery and, of course, the natural beauty of northern Wisconsin. Wausau is Wausome! It’s an amazing place to live and a fantastic place to visit. About a year ago, we heard someone describe Wausau as “Wausome” and frankly we couldn’t think of a better word to describe this amazing small city in Central Wisconsin. ![]()
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