SDMA Lawsuit and Other Rumors
Fact-check
Rumor #1 - The School District of the Menomonie Area recently made a payout settlement to end a lawsuit about masking the students.
Here is a statement sent to me by SDMA Superintendent, Dr. Joseph Zydowsky.
“In January, the District was involved in a due process hearing related to the need for COVID-19 mitigation protocols for a special education student in the SDMA. At parents’ request, the due process hearing was open to the public. On March 1, 2022, the District was pleased to learn that the administrative law judge in that matter ruled in favor of the District on all issues. Specifically, the judge determined that:
1. A previous agreement resolved the Parents’ claim that the District denied the Student a free, appropriate public education from September 1, 2021 to January 10, 2022; (this was not a financial settlement) [emphasis added by me - JU]
2. The Student’s current IEP is reasonably calculated to provide her with a free, appropriate public education, and the District has not failed to provide the Student with a free, appropriate public education by not implementing in her school building the specific COVID-19 mitigation measures requested by the Parents; and
3. The District did not commit any procedural violations that resulted in or constituted a denial of a free, appropriate public education.”
Here is the same basic statement reported in a WQOW article with lots more facts, confirming that this rumor is FALSE.
The “previous agreement” seems to have been for SDMA to provide some after school tutoring according to the March 7 update statement on the gofundme page for the suing family.
“Then, following the advice of our lawyer, we agreed to settle claims for compensatory education during the period she was held out of school last fall (the settlement means the district is providing after school tutoring).”
Here is a link to the statement, which I copied and pasted from that page, in case the page goes off the web.
Rumor #2 - Some current school board candidates contributed money to the gofundme account to pay for this lawsuit against the SDMA.
Menomonie Disability Legal Rights Fund gofundme page
As of the writing of this article you can see the list of donors. In case the gofundme page goes offline, I copied and pasted the donor list at this link.
Listed as donors are:
Current School Board Candidates:
Abraham Smith - $1,300 total in two donations
Rachel Henderson - $250 total in three donations
Current Dunn County Board Candidate:
Diane Morehouse - $150 total in two donations
TO BE FAIR . . .
Many people donated anonymously to this fund. It raised $16,545 of the $21,000 goal for the cause. The candidates listed above put their names on their donations. Gotta respect that. :)
Rumor #3 - The SDMA is sponsoring a school board forum on March 21.
A school board candidate forum is being planned for
Monday, March 21 from 7 - 9 PM at the Menomonie High School auditorium.
State Representative and current School Board Member, Clint Moses, will be the forum moderator. All six school board candidates have been invited. Not all have yet agreed to participate. The forum is being brought to you by a newly formed group called Concerned Citizens of Menomonie and not by the SDMA. The public is invited to this free event.
Please vote “Joyce Uhlir” for City Council on April 5.
